Laureates Out Loud at NKU

Laureates Out Loud at NKU

• Laureates Out Loud featuring Joy Harjo and Crystal Wilkinson   Saturday, April 23, 2022, at 7 p.m. (EST) at Northern Kentucky University, Highland Heights

As part of the National Endowment for the Humanities A More Perfect Union initiative, Kentucky Humanities, in partnership with Northern Kentucky University, will host U.S. Poet Laureate, Joy Harjo and Kentucky Poet Laureate, Crystal Wilkinson, in conversation with Eric H. Kearney. They will discuss social justice, inclusion, and storytelling through poetry.

Joy Harjo, the 23rd Poet Laureate of the United States, is a member of the Mvskoke Nation and belongs to Oce Vpofv (Hickory Ground). She is the author of nine books including her most recent Poet Warrior: A Memoir and the highly acclaimed An American Sunrise, and has received numerous awards and accolades for poetry. She is a chancellor of the Academy of American Poets, has produced seven award-winning musical albums and her poetry will be included on a plaque on LUCY, a NASA spacecraft on reconnaissance of the Jupiter Trojans.

Crystal Wilkinson, an African American feminist writer, is the 30th Poet Laureate of Kentucky and a proponent of the Affrilachian Poet movement. She is a 2020 USA Fellow of Creative Writing and a 2021 O. Henry Prize winner. She teaches at the University of Kentucky and is the acclaimed author of Perfect Black, The Birds of Opulence, Blackberries Blackberries, and Water Street.

Eric H. Kearney is the President/CEO of the Greater Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky African American Chamber of Commerce and President of the Northern Kentucky University Foundation. He has had a distinguished career in law, business, and politics. As a state senator, Kearney served as Ohio Senate Minority Leader and championed a number of causes including creating Ohio’s Poet Laureate. He founded and built one of the largest African American owned publishing companies, Sesh Communications, which publishes The Cincinnati Herald, The Northern Kentucky Herald, The Dayton Defender, and other publications. 

This event is a collaboration between Kentucky Humanities, the National Endowment for the Humanities, Northern Kentucky University, and the NKU Department of English.

All events are free of charge, but registration is required. Visit https://www.kyhumanities.org/about-us/50th-anniversary/anniversary-events to register.

For more information call 859.257.5932 visit kyhumanities.org