Poet, essayist, activist comes to Carnegie Library.

A poet is someone who wears all black and hangs out in dark coffee houses, musing over… A poet is someone who wears all black and hangs out in dark coffee houses, musing over hismelancholy life and the world around him, right? Not necessarily.

Poet Wendell Berry is an essayist, novelist, activist and farmer of 125 acres outside of Port Royal, Ky. Though he has been writing poetry since the 1950s, Berry’s versatile career includes many media.

The work of this Kentucky native and teacher — over 45 books of poetry, fiction and nonfiction– is often set in, or revolves around, the countryside of his home state. Berry’s writing unabashedly reflects the beliefs and convictions by which he lives his life. Not only is his work loaded with images of the beauty of nature and wildlife, it is continually underlaid with themes of traditional values like the importance of community, religion and marriage.

Berry is also well known as an environmental activist and political critic. He is a staunch supporter of the southern agrarian movement, and is known, most recently, for a critical essay published in The New York Times titled “A Citizen’s Response to the National Security Strategy of the United States.”

Berry’s awards include the T.S. Eliot award, the Thomas Merton Award and the Clean Water Hero award, among others. His most recent works include “The Art of the Commonplace,” “The Citizenship Papers” and “In the Presence of Fear: Three Essays for a Changed World.” In his prolificacy and expression of purely American themes, Berry is commonly regarded as one of the nation’s finest poets.

On Wed., Feb. 4 at 8:00 p.m., the International Poetry Forum welcomes Wendell Berry to Carnegie Library Lecture Hall. Expect to hear charming excerpts from his newest book of poetry, “The Selected Poems of Wendell Berry.” And don’t rule out any exciting extra-literary discussions.