FROST MEDAL-WINNING POET MARILYN NELSON TO SPEAK TO WRITERS
UCONN Professor Emerita, former Connecticut Poet Laureate, and 2012 Frost Medal recipient Marilyn Nelson will speak to writers at 6:00 pm, Wednesday, September 16, in the Stern Lounge (Austin 217). Nelson will talk specifically about rhyme, scansion of meter, and poetic form. While she is a guest speaker for the course “Writing for Children and Young Adults,” her presentation will appeal to students and faculty engaged in Creative Writing, Feminist Studies, African-American Studies, and Children’s Literature. The talk is free and open to the public.
Nelson, a three-time finalist for the National Book Award, has authored or translated fifteen books for adults and young readers. Her works for children usually address African-American history. A two-time winner of the Boston Globe/Horn Book Award, and frequent Coretta Scott King Honor Book selection, Nelson won the Lion and the Unicorn Award for Excellence in North American Poetry. Her acclaimed titles for young readers include: Carver: A Life in Poems, Fortune’s Bones, A Wreath for Emmett Till, The Freedom Business, Miss Crandall’s School for Young Ladies & Little Misses of Color, and Sweethearts of Rhythm: The Story of the Greatest All-Girl Swing Band in the World. Her memoir, How I Discovered Poetry, a series of 50 poems about growing up in a military family, was named one of NPR’s Best Books of 2014.
Nelson has earned numerous honors including NEA, Fulbright, and Guggenheim Fellowships. She actually won the Department of the Army’s Commander’s Award for Public Service. In 2012, she won the most prestigious award given by the Poetry Society of America, The Frost Medal.
Her session is sponsored by the Rightors Fund for Children's Literature.
For more information about Marilyn Nelson, please go to Marilyn-Nelson.com. For more information about her presentation, please contact English Adjunct Instructor and children’s book author Pegi Deitz Shea at pegideitzshea@aol.com or 860-878-7016.
For more information, contact: Pegi Deitz Shea at pegideitzshea@aol.com