Grace College English Professor Releases Book ‘Notes on the Poet’

Grace College’s Department of Humanities will host a book launch for Dr. John Poch, professor of English and creative writing, on Friday, Oct. 6 from 6 – 7:30 p.m. at the Morgan Library, 921 Connection Cir., Winona Lake. Poch will read excerpts of his new book, “Notes on the Poet” and sign copies for those in attendance. “Notes on the Poet” will be available for purchase at the signing, and coffee and cookies will be served. The event is free and open to the public.

“We are so pleased to have Dr. Poch joining our English faculty,” said Dr. Lauren Rich, chair of the Department of Humanities. “Not only is he a tremendously talented and accomplished writer, but he is passionate about helping students hone their craft in ways that honor our infinitely creative God. Under Dr. Poch’s leadership, we are looking forward to offering expanded opportunities to our creative writing students both in and out of class.”

An English scholar, professor and author, Poch joined Grace College this year after teaching at Texas Tech University for 22 years.

With a long-held fascination with the English language, Poch adds the book to his growing shelf of published works. He has authored seven collections of poetry and numerous other books. He is also the founder of 32 Poems, considered one of the best poetry magazines in the world. “Notes on the Poet” is Poch’s second book of literary criticism.

According to Poch, he wrote most of the book in a single intense writing period of three days, but added to it and revised it over a process of several years.

“I have been thinking about the mystery of poetry for almost 40 years now,” said Poch, “So I thought I’d write down a few of the things I have discovered and try to work out some of the things that have perplexed me all these years. I realized I had more than a few things to say, and it became a book.”

In the book, Poch grapples with long-held beliefs about poetry, gleaning truth from common wisdom and rejecting misleading assumptions about what it means to engage with poetry.

“I suppose I just want to be brutally honest about the art that has enamored me for all these years and then deal with these notes as the truth about poetry as I continue as a poet. Or I push back against some of them, and I say, ‘Wait, that’s not true at all,’” said Poch.

Poch teaches literature and writing courses for English and creative writing students at Grace and also oversees Grace’s literary magazine, Inkspot.

“Notes on the Poet” is available for purchase on Amazon.