This article orginally appeared in The Register-Mail

GALESBURG — Author and historian John E. Hallwas will speak on the writings of Carl Sandburg at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday at the Galesburg Public Library as part of One Read: Carl Sandburg.

“Work as a Struggle and as a Meaningful Experience in the Writings of Carl Sandburg” will feature readings and commentary that employ the poetry of Carl Sandburg to examine issues such as struggle, equity, identity and the meaning of the American work experience.

No American poet has focused more intently on workers than Sandburg, in poems like “A Teamster’s Farewell,” “They Will Say,” “Fish Crier,” “Ice Handler,” “Child of the Romans,” “Working Girls,” “Washerwoman,” “Work Gangs,” and many others. It is free and open to the public.

Hallwas holds a Ph.D. from the University of Florida and recently retired from Western Illinois University. He has received a number of teaching and service awards, has written more than a dozen books and scores of articles on Illinois history and literature, and is also the president of the Macomb Area LIFE Adult-Education Program.

For more information, contact the library’s reference desk at 343-6118. This program is made possible in part by an award from the Illinois Humanities Council, the National Endowment for the Humanities and the Illinois General Assembly.