Karl Patten (1927-2017) was a poet and Professor Emeritus of English at Bucknell University. Patten earned a BA from Williams College and a PhD in English literature from Boston University. Patten lived and worked for many years in Lewisburg, Pennsylvania with his wife Isabelle.
While at Bucknell, he taught courses on subjects as diverse as Dante, James Joyce, and silence. He founded the Film Studies Emphasis within the English Department and ran the Hilltop Film Series for many years. He was the co-founder of the literary journal West Branch and longtime co-host of the annual West Branch Poetry Festival at Bucknell. He was a widely published poet, and his most recent book, The Obstacle: Poems and Others (2016), appeared two months before his 90th birthday. Some of his other collections of poetry include, Irreplaceable You and Other Poems (2007), Spaces and Lines (2002), Touch: Poems (1999), The Impossible Reaches (1992), among others.
An ardent and outspoken advocate for human rights, Karl was the co-founder of the Lewisburg Prison Project, and he led the Lewisburg Chapter of the ACLU for more than 25 years. The Lewisburg Prison Project now awards The Isabelle and Karl Patten Award to deserving community activists who embody Karl and Isabelle’s pursuit of justice.