BINGHAMTON, NY – Over 450 students from 41 schools and 14 school districts will meet at 10 a.m. Wednesday, May 25, in the Anderson Center’s Osterhout Concert Theater at Binghamton University for the 39th annual Poetry and the Children Day. After the opening presentation, students will present their poems at 11 a.m. throughout the Fine Arts Building.

This year’s guest poet, Mario Moroni, visiting assistant professor of Italian at Binghamton University, was born in Italy and moved to the United States in 1989. He has taught at Yale University, the University of Memphis and Colby College. Moroni has published eight volumes of poetry and one of poetic prose, and his poems have been published in numerous journals and anthologies. As a critic, Moroni has published Essere e fare (Luisè, 1991), La presenza complessa (Longo, 1998), and Al limite (Le Monnier, 2007). He has co-edited three collections of essays: Italian Modernism with L. Somigli; From Eugenio Montale to Amelia Rossellii, with J. Butcher; and Neoavanguardia, with P. Chirumbolo and L.Somigli. In 2006, he released Reflections on Icaru’s Lands, a DVD of poetry, music and images in collaboration with composer Jon Hallstrom. He has performed "Reflections" and his poem "Reciting the Ashes," with piano music by composer David Gaita, in various venues in the U.S. and Europe.

Poetry and the Children Day, which brings students together for a day of poetry readings, was established as a memorial to Robert Pawlikowski. A published poet, creative writing instructor and campus administrative assistant, Pawlikowski was vacationing with his family in 1975 and perished while rescuing his young daughters, who had been swept into a swift current during a swim. The event is a tribute to the efforts that Pawlikowski made during his lifetime to nurture the expressive and intellectual powers of his students and of his own children.