Tyehimba Jess: Pulitzer Prize winner set for Blackbird Poetry Festival

Just a few weeks ago, Tyehimba Jess won the Pulitzer Prize for his work Olio. Judges said it is, “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.” This week, Mr. Jess is the feature of the Blackbird Poetry Festival on the campus of Howard Community College on Thursday. Join us in welcoming Mr. Jess to the Festival as he reads from his work at the Nightbird Poetry Reading.

Author of two ground-breaking books of poetry, Tyehimba Jess headlines this year’s Blackbird Poetry Festival. Both of Jess’ books affix faces onto blues forgotten performers, pulling them out from the chaos of oblivion. His book Olio, named a Library Journal top poetry collection, employs sonnet, song, story, photos, tables and foldouts to examine the lives of mostly unrecorded African-American musicians from Civil War times until World War 1. His first collection, leadbelly, chronicles the life of bluesman Huddie Ledbetter. Chosen for the National Poetry Series, leadbelly is “a powerful intertwining of history and blues,” according to Booklist.

Mr. Jess will read from and discuss his most recent work, Olio, as well as leadbelly during the Nightbird Poetry Reading, starting at 7:30 p.m. Thursday April 27, in the Smith Theatre of the Horowitz Center for Visual and Performing Arts. The Horowitz Center is located on the campus of Howard Community College, 10901 Little Patuxent Parkway Columbia, MD 21044. For more information about the Blackbird Poetry Festival, visit HoCoPoLitSo, or contact the organization at hocopolitso@yahoo.com or 443.518.4568.