ITTA BENA, Miss.-- Renowned poet, playwright, professor, activist Sonia Sanchez will visit Mississippi Valley State University Wednesday, Nov. 29, as part of the Zelma T. Howard Lecture Series.
Themed “The Power of Poetry: Sonia Sanchez’s Dynamic Voice”, the lecture will be hosted at 10 a.m. in MVSU’s Science and Technology Center Auditorium. It will include a special poetry reading by Sanchez and will conclude with a question and answer session and a book signing.
The event is free and open to the general public.
The author of more than 20 books, Sanchez has received numerous awards, including the National Endowment for the Arts Award and the American Book Award for her poetry collection “Homegirls and Handgrenades.”
Her poetry collection “Does Your House Have Lions?” was a finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award.
Sanchez was the first Presidential Fellow at Temple University, where she began teaching in 1977 and held the Laura Carnell Chair in English until her retirement in 1999.
In 2011, she was named Poet Laureate of Philadelphia by Mayor Michael Nutter.
Most recently, the documentary based on her life and work, “BaddDDD Sonia Sanchez”, was nominated for a 2017 Emmy Award.
The Zelma T. Howard Lecture Series is named in honor of long-time MVSU English Professor Dr. Zelma T. Howard of Indianola, MS.
Howard dedicated 41 years to MVSU, during which she served as chair of the English Department for 11 years.
The event is organized by MVSU’s University College, Department of English and Foreign Language and International Programs.
For more information, contact MVSU Chair and Professor of English Dr. John Zheng at (662) 254-3453.