A Vanderbilt University professor and accomplished poet is coming to East Tennessee State University.
The public will have two chances to interact with Major Jackson on Monday, Sept. 18.
At 2 p.m. in the D.P. Culp Student Center, room 311, Jackson will take part in a roundtable discussion about poetry and writing. An audience question-and-answer session will follow. At 7 p.m., Jackson will read from his poetry in the Brown Hall Auditorium, with books for sale and book signing opportunities after both events.
Jackson’s visit is part of the Black American Writer’s Series at ETSU.
“The Black American Studies Program’s Black American Writer’s Series is proud to partner with the Bert C. Bach Written Word Initiative to bring Major Jackson to ETSU. Jackson is a highly regarded poet and professor from Vanderbilt University,” said Dr. Daryl Carter, professor of history, associate dean for community relations and outreach, and director of the Black American Studies Program. “His work and poetry are testaments to his skill as a craftsman and to his insight into the human condition. We are blessed to have this opportunity.”
ETSU’s Dr. Jesse Graves, the university’s poet-in-residence and an English professor, will join Major and Valencia Robin, a visiting assistant professor, in the roundtable discussion.
“Major Jackson is one of America's leading poets, and his work is a high tide that lifts up all writers living and working in Tennessee. I always read his new work with an excited sense of discovery, knowing that I am watching one of the great careers in contemporary poetry unfold,” said Graves.
Jackson’s work has been featured in The New Yorker Magazine and the Poetry Foundation’s poem-a-day series.
“Major Jackson is not only a phenomenal poet, but a dedicated teacher and community builder, someone who routinely makes space for new voices; starting back with the Dark Room Collective and now as an editor for the Harvard Review and host of the Slowdown Podcast,” said Robin. “The love and energy he brings to American poetry is truly inspiring.”
ETSU is home to a thriving arts community, hosting dozens of performances, concerts and exhibitions each year.