Go back
ApplyRequest InfoVisitGiveCalendar
Home » News » Austin Peay professor connects with pandemic-distanced friends by sending original poems on antique postcards

Austin Peay professor connects with pandemic-distanced friends by sending original poems on antique postcards

Andrea Spofford had 50 antique postcards, a typewriter and a plan. A poet, essayist and Austin Peay State University associate professor of English, Dr. Spofford created her plan in mid-March, around the time most states shut down in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. “As I thought about what it means to be socially distant, I also thought about how we make connections,” she wrote in Journal Nine recently. Spofford announced the project on Facebook: “I have 50 antique postcards, a typewriter, and a plan. If you would like an original poem written by me and mailed by the USPS, message me a mailing address.” Friends and families quickly claimed all the postcards, which she bought from an antique store she frequented during graduate school. “I wanted to reach out, to make art and to continue forging those connections that were so suddenly disrupted,” Spofford wrote for Journal Nine. She typed her poems on a collection of Curt Teich & Co. postcards from 1900-1940 that featured landscapes and national parks. She mailed them all over the country, from Clarksville to Arizona, Louisiana and California. Journal Nine – the quarterly online poetry journal noted above – published several of the postcards and poems. You can read about Spofford’s creative process and how she typed the poems without revision – despite her perfectionist needs – at https://www.journalnine.com//andrea-spofford. To learn more about APSU’s Department of Languages and Literature, go to https://www.apsu.edu/langlit/.
Spofford typed original poems on 50 antique postcards and mailed them to friends.

(Posted July 7, 2020)

Andrea Spofford had 50 antique postcards, a typewriter and a plan. 

A poet, essayist and Austin Peay State University associate professor of English, Dr. Spofford created her plan in mid-March, around the time most states shut down in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. 

“As I thought about what it means to be socially distant, I also thought about how we make connections,” she wrote in Journal Nine recently.

Andrea Spofford had 50 antique postcards, a typewriter and a plan. A poet, essayist and Austin Peay State University associate professor of English, Dr. Spofford created her plan in mid-March, around the time most states shut down in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. “As I thought about what it means to be socially distant, I also thought about how we make connections,” she wrote in Journal Nine recently. Spofford announced the project on Facebook: “I have 50 antique postcards, a typewriter, and a plan. If you would like an original poem written by me and mailed by the USPS, message me a mailing address.” Friends and families quickly claimed all the postcards, which she bought from an antique store she frequented during graduate school. “I wanted to reach out, to make art and to continue forging those connections that were so suddenly disrupted,” Spofford wrote for Journal Nine. She typed her poems on a collection of Curt Teich & Co. postcards from 1900-1940 that featured landscapes and national parks. She mailed them all over the country, from Clarksville to Arizona, Louisiana and California. Journal Nine – the quarterly online poetry journal noted above – published several of the postcards and poems. You can read about Spofford’s creative process and how she typed the poems without revision – despite her perfectionist needs – at https://www.journalnine.com//andrea-spofford. To learn more about APSU’s Department of Languages and Literature, go to https://www.apsu.edu/langlit/.
Dean Barry Jones shared his postcard on Facebook.

Spofford announced the project on Facebook: “I have 50 antique postcards, a typewriter, and a plan. If you would like an original poem written by me and mailed by the USPS, message me a mailing address.” 

Friends and families quickly claimed all the postcards, which she bought from an antique store she frequented during graduate school.

“I wanted to reach out, to make art and to continue forging those connections that were so suddenly disrupted,” Spofford wrote for Journal Nine.

She typed her poems on a collection of Curt Teich & Co. postcards from 1900-1940 that featured landscapes and national parks. She mailed them all over the country, from Clarksville to Arizona, Louisiana and California.

Journal Nine – the quarterly online poetry journal noted above – published several of the postcards and poems.

You can read about Spofford’s creative process and how she typed the poems without revision – despite her perfectionist needs – at https://www.journalnine.com//andrea-spofford.

To learn more about APSU’s Department of Languages and Literature, go to https://www.apsu.edu/langlit/.

News Feed

View All News
20260423-coal-student-leadership-awards-20
APSU's College of Arts & Letters announces 2025-26 student and alumni awards

The college has announced its 2025-26 Student Leadership Award and Distinguished Alumni Award recipients, recognizing six outstanding students and six alumni whose achievements span the visual arts, communication, history, literature, music, and theatre.

Read More
insms-fpn-belgrade
Austin Peay State University formalizes landmark partnership with University of Belgrade's Faculty of Political Science

The partnership establishes a framework for joint conferences, scholarly co-publication, faculty exchanges, and expanded study abroad programming for APSU students in Serbia.

Read More
HHP Summit RSS
APSU to host inaugural Health and Performance Summit for sport, recovery and tactical fields

The Department of Health and Human Performance will host its inaugural Health and Performance Summit on Saturday, Oct. 17, in the Health Professions Building, bringing together nationally recognized leaders in strength and conditioning, sports science, healthcare, and tactical performance.

Read More