Verse Like Water: the visiting poet program of Central Lakes College will joyfully introduce Peter Balakian for a noon reading in the Chalberg Theater, the college said oon its website.

In addition to poetry, Professor Balakian has gifted the literary world with memoir, translations, and essays about arts and culture.

As a young man, he inhabited a pivotal moment when he learned his grandmother had survived a Syrian death march, which was part of the Armenian Genocide of 1915.

Much of his life’s work has been devoted to comprehending this horror, and the fates of nearly two million Armenians.

Peter’s book "Ozone Journal" earned the Pulitzer Prize in 2016. As always, this literary event is free and open to the public, and is sponsored by the Minnesota Legacy Fund and Minnesota Public Radio.