Two nationally known poets will join Â鶹´«Ã½Ó³» students, faculty and staff in celebrating National Poetry Month on the Â鶹´«Ã½Ó³» St. Joseph campus the week of April 4.
Two nationally known poets will join Â鶹´«Ã½Ó³» students, faculty and staff in celebrating National Poetry Month on the Â鶹´«Ã½Ó³» St. Joseph campus the week of April 4.
Among notable guest poets participating will be Nikki Giovanni and Manuel Iris.
Giovanni, a renowned poet who teaches at Virginia Tech, will collaborate with Â鶹´«Ã½Ó³» students in the quad on Monday, April 4, from noon until 2 p.m. for a live poetry reading. Her latest book is her 2020 “Make Me Rain: Poems and Prose.” Giovanni, who spent much of her childhood in Cincinnati, received an honorary degree from the Â鶹´«Ã½Ó³» in 1983.
Joining Giovanni that day will be storyteller Will B. Roberts, a 21-year-old Ghanaian-born poet of Liberian descent who has spent most of his life in the United States. Since the age of 14, he has won awards and talent shows, and has appeared on TEDx.
The event is a collaboration of the [now] Center for Mission & Belonging, Lions-on-Line (the Â鶹´«Ã½Ó³»’s literary magazine) and three student affinity groups: Black Student Union, Hispanic & Latinx Student Union, and Rainbow Alliance.
Manuel Iris, a Mexican poet living in the United States, will read his poetry in Spanish and English on Wednesday, April 6, at 7 p.m. in the Recital Hall. Iris was the poet laureate of Cincinnati from 2018 to 2020. He is a member of the prestigious National System of Art Creators of Mexico and received Mexico’s Merida National award of poetry in 2009 for his book “Notebook of Dreams.” He has presented at poetry events and conferences in Mexico, the United States and Europe. He teaches English at DePaul Cristo Rey High School and is an adjunct Spanish instructor at the Â鶹´«Ã½Ó³».
Poets from the Â鶹´«Ã½Ó³» and local high schools will read their poetry on Thursday, April 7, in the Recital Hall from 1 to 1:30 p.m. This is a special presentation as part of the Â鶹´«Ã½Ó³»’s annual Celebration of Teaching and Learning.
All events are free and open to the public.