Staff and Board

Poetry Center Staff

Kim Bridgford
Director

Kim Bridgford is the director of the West Chester University Poetry Center and the West Chester University Poetry Conference. As editor of Mezzo Cammin, she was the founder of The Mezzo Cammin Women Poets Timeline Project, which was launched at the National Museum of Women in the Arts in Washington on March 27, 2010, and will eventually be the largest database of women poets in the world. She is the author of five books of poetry: Undone; Instead of Maps; In the Extreme: Sonnets about World Records, winner of the Donald Justice Prize; and Take-Out: Sonnets about Fortune Cookies, and Hitchcock's Coffin: Sonnets about Classic Films.

Contact Kim

Jamie Smith
Associate Director

Jamie Smith received her B. A. in English Literature from West Chester University (2002). Following her graduation, she worked in the Marketing Department for a local medical manufacturer. After volunteering at the conference for six years she joined the WCU Poetry Center as the Administrative Assistant in December 2006. She currently serves as Associate Director of the WCU Poetry Conference, and is the administrative director of all the Center's programs.

Contact Jamie

Devon Kehler
Graduate Assistant

After completing her Bachelor's in Music Therapy, Devon practiced as a full-time music therapist for nearly five years. She has clinical experience in early intervention classroom programming, individualized treatment for adults with developmental delays, home/family based therapy, community music groups, and trans-disciplinary treatment. She currently teaches as an affiliate faculty member of Immaculata University’s Department of Music.

Devon began her graduate work in English at West Chester University in 2009. Her studies are concentrated in the areas of writing, teaching, and criticism. Her research interests include: aural modes of composition, multi-modal expression/communication, progressive pedagogy, and critical literacy. She has served The Poetry Center as a Graduate Assistant since the Fall of 2010.

Poetry Center Advisory Board

Suzanne Evans Blair

Rick Burke

Ellie Byrom-Haley

Kelly Coveny

Rosamond du Pont

Rhina P. Espaillat

Russell Goings

Darcie Goldberg

Kathleen Byrnes Jarrett

Lester Graves Lennon

Muriel McDaniel

Joe Sequenzia

Kean Spencer

Kyle Spencer

Lynn Wachman

David Yezzi