Poet to give presentation on work today
Nikky Finney will also sign copies of her book in Grafton-Stovall
Posted on January 24, 2008
JMU will host award-winning poet Nikky Finney as she presents her work today for the campus.
Finney is an associate professor of creative writing at the University of Kentucky and founding member of the Affrilachian Poets. “Affrilachian” is a term used to describe people of color living in the Appalacian region. The group was founded for mutual support and encouragement for like-minded poets, according to mwg.org.
Her poetry is known for having very visual yet straightforward lyrics and the ability to passionately portray its subjects.
JMU’s Furious Flower Poetry Center is sponsoring today’s event.
Finney’s poetry plays a role in “celebrating community, the bonds of family and the inexplicable ways of the sprit,” said Natalia Bradshaw-Parson, editorial assistant for Furious Flower.
Finney will give a presentation based on her works which include Rice which won the PEN American Open Book Award in 1999, Heartwood and The World is Round which won the 2004 Benjamin Franklin Award for Poetry. She will also be signing copies of The Ringing Ear: Black Poets Lean South, an anthology of contemporary black poets which Finney edited.
The presentation is free and begins at 4 p.m. in Grafton-Stovall Theatre. It also serves as a Wellness Passport event.
For more information and to read “Brown Country,” one of Finney’s poems, go to jmu.edu/furiousflower or e-mail bradshnr@jmu.edu.
