Margaret Astorga, a sophomore at the University of Rochester, is one of two young poets in the nation to be chosen for the Stadler Semester for Younger Poets at Bucknell University. She is the first University of Rochester student to receive this honor.
The Stadler program allows participants a full semester to concentrate on their poetry, under the tutelage of practicing poets.
Astorga, who was last year's winner of the Dean's Creative Writing Competition at the University, is studying this semester with distinguished poet and teacher William Matthews. He is the author of several poetry collections and the recipient of fellowships from the National Endowment for the Humanities and the Guggenheim Foundation. Matthews read from his work at the University in 1994 as part of the Plutzik Memorial Poetry Series.
The Stadler Semester is "a wonderful opportunity for Margaret to concentrate on her poetry at a crucial time in her career," English professor Jarold Ramsey said.
Astorga has studied at the University with Ramsey and English professor James Longenbach, both of whom recommended her for the Stadler program.