TUSCALOOSA – Richard Siken, whose poetry collection “Crush” won the 2004 Yale Series of Younger Poets prize, will be the next visitor in The University of Alabama Bankhead Reading Series. Siken will read at 7:30 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 17 at the Bama Theatre in downtown Tuscaloosa.

Siken, who lives in Tucson, Ariz., also won a Lambda Literary Award and the Thom Gunn Award and was a finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award for “Crush.” His poems have appeared in The Iowa Review, Conjunctions, Indiana Review and Forklift, Ohio, as well as in the anthologies “The Best American Poetry 2000” and “Legitimate Dangers.” He is a recipient of a Pushcart Prize, two Arizona Commission on the Arts grants, and a fellowship from the National Endowment for the Arts.

The reading is free and open to the public. A reception is to follow.

The Bankhead Visiting Writers Series is supported by an endowment from the Bankhead Foundation, The University of Alabama’s Program in Creative Writing, the department of English and the College of Arts and Sciences. For more information, contact UA’s creative writing program at 205/348-0766, or visit http://www.as.ua.edu/english/05_department_life/reading_series.html.

The College of Arts and Sciences is the University’s largest division and the largest public liberal arts college in the state. Students from the College have won numerous national awards including Rhodes Scholarships, Goldwater Scholarships and memberships on the USA Today Academic All American Team.

The University of Alabama, a student-centered research university, is in the midst of planned, steady enrollment growth with a goal of reaching 28,000 students by 2010. This growth, which is positively impacting the campus and the state's economy, is in keeping with UA’s vision to be the university of choice for the best and brightest students. UA, the state's flagship university, is an academic community united in its commitment to enhancing the quality of life for all Alabamians.