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Literature

Young Poet Reading: Tyehimba Jess

Tuesday, May 8
8:00 PM

Reading and signing, reception to follow

Tyehimba Jess was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry in 2017 for his second volume, Olio. His citation reads: “For a distinctive work that melds performance art with the deeper art of poetry to explore collective memory and challenge contemporary notions of race and identity.” In Olio he reconstucts the lives of some African-American performers, “first-generation-freed” and mostly unknown, and gives them voices. In his first volume, leadbelly, he did the same for Huddie William Ledbetter, the folk and blues singer. Jess will read from Olio and discuss its subjects.     
   Tyehimba Jess was born and raised in Detroit. He graduated from the University of Chicago and earned an MFA at New York University. He is an associate professor of English at the College of Staten Island, CUNY.

Photo credit: John Midgley


THIS EVENT IS FREE AND OPEN TO THE PUBLIC. A RESERVATION IS NOT REQUIRED.






Tyehimba Jess
Tuesday, May 8, 2018 8:00 PM
Literature