Meet Ada Hastings Hedges
Ada Hastings Hedges was among Oregon’s foremost mid–twentieth-century poets, best known for her superb poems set in Oregon’s high desert. Hedges wrote in a style notable for precision, clarity, and smoothness of line. A poet of the city as well as the desert, her work offers a compelling perspective on mid-century Portland life. For readers interested in women’s literature, Pacific Northwest poetry, and the literature of Eastern Oregon, The Collected Poems of Ada Hastings Hedges reintroduces a compelling regional voice.
For National Poetry Month
Celebrate National Poem in Your Pocket Day on April 30 by downloading one of our PDFs. Put the poem in your pocket, or post it above your kitchen sink (inspired by Poets House). Better yet, read an Ada Hastings Hedges poem aloud and post it to your own social media channels (tag @OSUPress).
THE ADA HASTINGS HEDGES PLAYLIST
The complete playlist is available on the OSU Press Soundcloud.
Reader’s name: Alan Contreras
Poem read: Wild Geese
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Alan Contreras is coeditor of The Collected Poems of Ada Hastings Hedges. He is best known for his writing about the natural world and higher education. He is the editor of Edge of Awe and the author of Afield, both published by OSU Press. He lives in Eugene, Oregon.
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Reader’s name: Ulrich Hardt
Poem read: Sonnet XIII from Desert Poems
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Ulrich Hardt is coeditor of The Collected Poems of Ada Hastings Hedges. He was managing editor of the Oregon Literature Series published by OSU Press with the Oregon Council of Teachers of English, and he is coeditor-in-chief of the Oregon Encyclopedia of History and Culture.
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Reader’s name: Ingrid Wendt
Poem read: Then April
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Ingrid Wendt wrote the afterword for The Collected Poems of Ada Hastings Hedges. She is the recipient of the Oregon Book Award, the Carolyn Kizer Award, and three Fulbright Professorships. As coeditor of From Here We Speak: An Anthology of Oregon Poetry, she researched and selected the works of poets born before 1930, including Ada Hedges. She lives in Eugene, Oregon.
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Reader’s name: Quinton Hallett
Poem read: Resurgence
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Quinton Hallett writes and edits from Noti, Oregon. For the Oregon Poetry Association, she has co-hosted a reading series, facilitated poet visits to a rural high school, led craft workshops, and served on the board. She has four chapbooks and a full-length collection, Mrs. Schrödinger’s Breast, from Uttered Chaos Press.