DATE: November 5, 2001
CONTACT:
Calvin Burns, 901/333-5338, or Marilyn Duncan,
901/333-4247
STCC to Present Renowned Poet, Haki Madhubuti;
Event will Honor Pulitzer Prize Winner, Gwendolyn Brooks
The Department of Fine Arts, Languages and
Literature at Southwest Tennessee Community College will present a
series of book readings and signings by award-winning poet, Haki
Madhubuti, Wednesday, November 14. Madhubuti, formerly known as Don Lee,
will make appearances at both the Union Avenue and Macon Cove campuses.
The activities are designed to commemorate the life and works of the
late Gwendolyn Brooks, a Pulitzer Prize winner and community
college graduate. This event is free and open to the public.
Madhubuti, best known for his poem But He Was
Cool: He Even Stopped for Green Lights, will speak at the Union
Avenue Campus Theater, 737 Union Avenue, from 9:40 until 10:35 a.m., and
from 10:45 until 11:40 a.m. He will conclude his visit to the Union
Avenue Campus from 6:30 until 7:30 p.m., in the Jess H. Parrish Library.
The critically acclaimed poet will make two one-hour presentations at
the Macon Cove Campus Library, 5983 Macon Cove, starting at 2:00 p.m.
Brooks visited what is now the Union Avenue Campus
of STCC in 1994, and read selections of her works. She died last year,
but left a lasting impression on all who met her. Organizers of the
event said they hope to build on this year's activities and have an
annual conference that will focus on Brooks' achievements.
Madhubuti did extensive research on Brooks, and
was greatly influenced by her writing style. Currently, he serves as
director of the Gwendolyn Brooks Center at Chicago State University.
Some of his other works include Groundwork: New and Selected Poems of
Don L. Lee/Haki R. Madhubuti from 1966-1996; Don't Cry, Scream; The
African American Family in Transition: Essays in Discovery, Solution and
Hope; and Black Men: Obsolete, Single
and Dangerous?
Southwest Tennessee Community College is the
comprehensive, multicultural, public open-access college whose mission
is to anticipate and respond to the educational needs of students,
employers, and communities of Shelby and Fayette counties and the
surrounding Mid-South region. STCC has nearly 13,000 students, making it
the largest community college in the Tennessee Board of Regents system.
For more information about Madhubuti's book
signings and readings, call the College at 901/333-5208.
