FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
For more information or photos, please contact:
Erin Ciciora
elukehar@illinois.edu, (217) 265-7580
Humanities Research Institute
Urbana, Ill. — The Humanities Research Institute at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign will host award-winning poet Nikky Finney on campus for two evening events: a CultureTalk on April 19 and poetry reading and book signing on April 20.
Influenced by the Civil Rights and Black Arts Movements, as well as her parents’ social activism, Finney has penned six books, including On Wings Made of Gauze, Rice, The World is Round and Head Off & Split, which won the National Book Award for Poetry in 2011. Her new collection of poems, Love Child’s Hotbed of Occasional Poetry, was released in 2020. Finney is John H. Bennett, Jr., Chair in Creative Writing and Southern Letters at University of South Carolina, is a chancellor of the American Academy of Poets and was recently inducted into the American Academy of Arts and Letters.
Finney will be joined by Ruth Nicole Brown, chairperson of the Department of African American and African Studies at Michigan State University, for the CultureTalk event. Brown is a former resident of Champaign-Urbana whose foundational work in the community includes programs like Saving Our Lives Hear Our Truths (SOLHOT) and Black Girl Genius Week. She was previously a professor of Gender and Women’s Studies and Education, Policy, Organization and Leadership at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. Professor Janice Harrington (Creative Writing, English Department) will moderate the CultureTalk.
Both events are free and open to the public.
Event Schedule
WEDNESDAY, APRIL 19, 7:30 p.m.
CultureTalk: Nikky Finney and Ruth Nicole Brown in Conversation
Spurlock Museum, Knight Auditorium OR Watch livestream at https://go.illinois.edu/CultureTalk
Moderated by Janice Harrington
Cosponsored by the College of Fine and Applied Arts, Krannert Center for the Performing Arts, the Center for Advanced Study, Spurlock Museum, and Humanities Research Institute.
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THURSDAY, APRIL 20, 7:30 p.m.
Poetry Reading and Book Signing
Alice Campbell Alumni Center
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