Today we welcome poet Kevin McKelvey who joins us to share his ecological, biological, and geological poetry. McKelvey is a place-based poet, writer, designer, and social practice artist. He teaches at the University of Indianapolis and directs the MA in Social Practice Art. His first book, Dream Wilderness Poems, is a poetic trail guide for the Deam Wilderness Area near Bloomington that represents years of exploration in the Hoosier National Forest. Other poems are collected in Indiana Nocturnes, a collaboration on Indiana’s urban and rural divide with another native Hoosier, Curtis L. Crisler. McKelvey has been a writer-in-residence in the Long-Term Ecological Reflections program at the H.J. Andrews Experimental Forest in Oregon and at Isle Royale National Park in Lake Superior. This inspired him to bring this model to Indiana, working with local land trusts to create annual, centuries-long creative and scientific reflections on natural areas, including NICHES Land Trust and ACRES Land Trust. His work in novels, essays, social practice, and placemaking continues to explore the intersections of art, writing, ecology, gardening, food, and farming. McKelvey attended DePauw University in Greencastle and completed his MFA in Poetry and Creative Writing at Southern Illinois University Carbondale.
