S204.
Gathering the Loose Petals: A Celebration of the Work of Afaa Michael Weaver
Saturday, February 10, 2024
1:45 pm to 3:00 pm
This gathering of writers and scholars seeks to celebrate and honor the work of Afaa Michael Weaver and his storied career as a poet, essayist, playwright, mentor and much more. A number of presenters, including Dr. Tara Betts, Danielle Legros Georges, and Enzo Silon Surin will discuss poems by Weaver that have inspired them and facilitate a timely discussion about the impact that a writer can have off the page. Weaver will then close with brief remarks and a few new poems from his recent work.
Participants
Enzo Silon Surin is a Haitian-born, award-winning poet, educator, publisher, librettist, and social advocate. He is the author of four collections of poetry, including his most recent book, American Scapegoat, and the twenty-first annual Massachusetts Book Award winner, When My Body Was A Clinched Fist.
Tara Betts is the author of Refuse to Disappear, Break the Habit, and Arc & Hue. Tara currently teaches at DePaul University and is the poetry editor at the Langston Hughes Review.
Danielle Legros Georges is a poet, essayist, translator, and professor emeritus at Lesley University. She was appointed the second Poet Laureate of the city of Boston, serving in the role from 2015 to 2019. Her most recent work is a book of translations, Island Heart: The Poems of Ida Faubert.
Bro. Yao (Hoke S. Glover III) received his MFA in poetry from the University of Maryland in 1997, where he studied with Stanley Plumly. His fiction and nonfiction have been published in various journals and anthologies.
Afaa M. Weaver is a poet, playwright, editor, and translator. Spirit Boxing is his fifteenth poetry collection. His awards include four Pushcarts, an NEA, a Fulbright, the Kingsley Tufts Award, the Phillis Wheatley Award, a Guggenheim, and the Botolph Club Foundation Distinguished Artist Award.
