Darrell Bourque, former poet laureate of Louisiana, will be coming to the University as guest lecturer of the Fletcher Lecture Series today.

Bourque’s lecture is titled “In the Company of Others: A Talk and Reading.” He will be reading a few parts from his works when he was poet laureate of Louisiana. His lecture will start with a question and answer session at 10:30 a.m. in the Plantation Suite of the Student Union.

There will then be a pre-lecture reception in the Talbot Theater lobby at 5 p.m. followed by the lecture at 6 p.m. The lecture is free and open to the public.

According to The Times-Picayune, Bourque was born and raised in Louisiana. He graduated from the University of Louisiana at Lafayette with a master’s degree and transferred to Florida State University for his doctorate in creative writing.

Bourque is now a retired UL-Lafayette professor emeritus in English. His works reveal his culture and his connections to it. He writes about family life, Catholicism, landscape and culture.

Bourque did not start writing poetry until his second year at UL Lafayette. He was given an assignment by one of his professors to write a poem and thus his poetry career began.

According to english.louisiana.edu, “Dr. Bourque’s most recent collection of poems titled ‘In Ordinary Light’ was published in 2010 by the University of Louisiana at Lafayette Press.”

Bourque has been recognized for many honors including Outstanding Teacher at University of Louisiana at Lafayette, Distinguished Professor Award at UL-Lafayette and was recognized by the Louisiana Endowment for the Humanities for lasting contributions to our state’s culture.

Bourque also has the honor of having an award named after him at the UL-Lafayette. This award is given to the best conference essay submitted to the English department at UL-Lafayette.

Bourque attended the first Fletcher Lecture series 28 years ago. He has also been to a few of the other lectures throughout the years.

The series honors Marie Fletcher, one of the first faculty members of the English department at the University, Fletcher Lecture committee chair Linda Stanga said.

The series was established in 1985 and is dedicated to Fletcher, who died in 1983. Fletcher taught at the University when it was a junior college and continued teaching as it transitioned into a state university.

The series brings scholars and writers to the University each year. In the past, presenters included Robert Penn Warren, Ernest Gains, Maxine Hong Kingston, Sam Pickering, Marilynne Robinson and Olympia Vernon.

The speakers are chosen by the Fletcher Lecture Committee. The committee consists of 16 faculty members. The faculty nominates speakers and then votes on the guest speaker.

“Dr. Bourque was happy and honored to come and speak,” Stanga said.