“The Long Reach of African-American Poetics,” a mini-conference celebrating the influence of African-American cadences and verse, will be held Oct. 5 to 7 (Wednesday to Friday) at the University of Notre Dame.
The award-winning poetry of Elizabeth Alexander, Rowan Phillips, Sharan Strange and Natasha Trethewey addresses the subtleties of negotiating home and belonging, as it expands our understanding of African-American verse.
Readings and related events, which are open to the public, are as follows:
- Oct. 5 — Readings by Strange and Phillips, 7:30p.m. at Notre Dame Downtown, 217 S. Michigan St., South Bend, reception to follow
- Oct. 6 — Panel discussion featuring each of the poets and Ivy Wilson, assistant professor of English at Notre Dame, 2 to 3:30p.m. in 100-104 McKenna Hall
- Oct. 6 — Readings by Alexander and Trethewey, 5:30p.m. in 100-104 McKenna Hall
- Oct. 7 — Poetry workshop, 10 to 11:30 a.m. followed by classroom discussion with the poets, 208 McKenna Hall, advance registration required ( http://www.nd.edu/~alcwp/PoetryWorkshopInformation.html )
Sponsored by Notre Dame’s Creative Writing Program, the Department of English and the Department of Africana Studies, the conference is supported by the Paul M. and Barbara Henkels Visiting Scholar Series.
Additional information on the conference and visiting poets is available at http://www.nd.edu/~alcwp/longreach.html .
Contact: Valerie Sayers, professor of English, 574-631-7160, sayers.1@nd.eduOriginally published by at newsinfo.nd.edu on September 26, 2005.