JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. (Nov. 4, 2021) – Students and the public will have the rare opportunity to engage with two award-winning poets at East Tennessee State University’s upcoming Spoken Word Poetry Performance and Workshop.
Happening at 4 p.m. on Tuesday, Nov. 9, at the Bud Frank Theatre, artists Marcus Amaker
and Taria Person will be on hand to offer a spoken word poetry presentation. Following
a brief intermission, both writers will hold a workshop aimed at demonstrating how
to prepare and perform spoken word poetry. The ETSU Department of Literature and Language has arranged the event.
“This is an absolutely wonderful opportunity, especially for our students,” said Dr.
Jesse Graves, a professor and poet-in-resident in the Department of Literature and
Language at ETSU. “The ETSU community will not only hear presentations by two excellent
writers but will also get to workshop with them.”
Amaker, an Academy of American Poets fellow, is the award-winning graphic designer
of “No Depression,” a national music journal. The Poet Laureate of Charleston, South
Carolina, Amaker is also an electronic musician. A range of influential groups, including
the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts and the Washington Post, have recognized
his poetry.
Person, a graduate of the University of Tennessee, is the author of a book about poetry
titled “Rainbow Elephant,” as well as “At the Summit,” a work commissioned by the
Emily Hall Tremaine Foundation. A recipient of multiple awards, Person has performed
at the Bonnaroo Music and Arts Festival. Person is an annual young writers’ workshop
instructor at the University of Tennessee.
The event, sponsored by the Mary B. Martin School for the Arts and the Bert C. Bach Written Word Initiative, is free to the public. The Bud Frank Theatre is located inside Gilbreath Hall on
Stout Drive.
For additional information, call the Department of Literature and Language at 423-439-4339 or email at litlang@etsu.edu. Masks will be required at all indoor events.
For disability accommodations, call the ETSU Office of Disability Services at 423-439-8346.