Media Contact: Micki Leventhal, 312-344-7383; mleventhal@colum.edu
Chicago, April 2003 - Two evenings of readings will wrap up the spring poetry season at Columbia College Chicago.
On Wednesday, May 28 the poetry program will celebrate the publication of the sixteenth issue of the Columbia Poetry Review with readings and a reception. The free event begins at 5:30 pm in Hokin Hall, 623 S. Wabash. Call 312-344-8100 for more information.
On Thursday, May 29 at 5:30 pm the college welcomes Quincy Troupe, California's first official poet laureate, to the Ferguson Theater, 600 S. Michigan, for a reading of his work. The program is free and open to the public. Call 312-344-8100 for information.
A multi-award winning performance poet, Troupe concerns himself with issues of family, society, and the nature of poetry. His work has paid close attention to jazz and his poetic forms praise the rhythms and the masters of the music. Troupe's forms, driven by performability, range from ecstatic odes to overtly political expostulations, says Publishers Weekly.
He is the author of 13 books, including seven volumes of poetry. Among his poetry collections are Transcircularities: New and Selected Poems (Coffee House Press, 2002) Choruses: Poems (Coffee House Press, 1999), Avalanche (1996), Weather Reports: New and Selected Poems (1991), Skulls along the River (1984), Snake-Back Solos: Selected Poems 1969-1977, which received the American Book Award, and Embryo Poems: 1967-1971. He is also the author of the Miles: The Autobiography (1989), James Baldwin: The Legacy (1989), and Miles and Me: A Memoir of Miles Davis(2000). Born in New York City, he lives in San Diego and is Professor of Creative Writing and American and Caribbean Literature at the University of California, San Diego.
The 2003 Columbia Poetry Review was edited by Columbia Poetry majors Rebecca Bridge, Armand Capanna, Shana Cleveland and Demetria Jones. Hosting and reading at this year's event will be the four editors and many other student contributors including Ric M. Cleary, Amber Reskey, Robert Baker and Linda Oh.
Also reading will be faculty contributors including Sharon Darrow, Art Lange and David Trinidad. The winners of this year's Eileen Lannan Poetry Prize, sponsored by the Academy of American Poets, will also be announced at the May 28 event.
In addition to poetry by Columbia students and faculty professionals, the Columbia Poetry Review includes work by noted poets who are invited to contribute to the nationally distributed publication. The 2003 edition includes work by Alice Notley, Elaine Equi, Susan Wheeler and Charles Bernstein.
The magazine is unique among student-edited poetry magazines in that it is nationally distributed and sales pay for the publication's production, says Paul Hoover, Columbia faculty member and coordinator of the college's Poetry program. As a real world publication, the Columbia Poetry Review offers valuable experience for our student editors and brings attention to Columbia College and our poetry program among those in the literary community.
The Poetry Reading Series is sponsored by the English Department of Columbia College Chicago. All events take place on the Columbia College Chicago campus and are free and open to the public.