‘Roll Deep’ with Major Jackson and the Katonah Poetry Series on April 7
On Sunday, April 7, the Katonah Poetry Series (KPS) welcomes Major Jackson, author of four acclaimed poetry collections. In his fourth collection of poetry, Roll Deep (W.W. Norton, 2015), Major Jackson rolls deep through his poetic vision, bringing a jazz and hip hop vibe to his own personal odyssey. His travels take readers from urban America to Kenya, Madrid, Greece and beyond, yet always with an awareness that nowhere is the black body safe. Thus the need arises to “roll deep,” meaning to be surrounded by your people for safety. Who peoples the posse that has Jackson’s back? Is it the musical artists who inform his beat, the diverse canon of influential poets before him or his ancestors? Surely all of these. According to the New York Times, “…no matter how far the speaker journeys — for success, for beauty, for his art, for his woman — he carries home in his blood.”
Jackson has received fellowships from the Fine Arts Work Center, the Guggenheim Foundation, the NEA, and the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study. His debut collection Leaving Saturn (2002) won the Cave Canem Poetry Prize for a first book of poems. A recipient of fellowships from the Fine Arts Work Center in Provincetown, Guggenheim Foundation, National Endowment for the Arts, and the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study at Harvard University, Major Jackson has been awarded a Pushcart Prize, a Whiting Writers’ Award, and has been honored by the Pew Fellowship in the Arts and the Witter Bynner Foundation in conjunction with the Library of Congress. He has published poems and essays in American Poetry Review, Callaloo, The New Yorker, The New York Times Book Review, Paris Review, Ploughshares, Poetry, Tin House, and included in multiple volumes of Best American Poetry. Major Jackson is the Richard Dennis Green and Gold University Distinguished Professor at UVM and serves as the Poetry Editor of The Harvard Review.
The reading begins at 4:00 p.m., followed by an audience Q&A, reception and book signing. Copies of Jackson’s books will be available for sale. For further information and an exclusive KPS interview with Major Jackson, conducted by poet Ann van Buren, please visit www.katonahpoetry.com.
The Katonah Poetry Series has been showcasing the world’s best poets for more than 50 years. Our next reading, on May 5, 2019, will feature Alan Shapiro. Alan Shapiro will be teaching a poetry workshop on May 4; for more information email: katonahpoetry@gmail.com.
About Katonah Poetry Series
The Katonah Poetry Series (www.katonahpoetry.com) hosts four readings each year by nationally acclaimed poets in the friendly and intimate setting of the Katonah Village Library. Each reading is followed by a lively audience Q & A, as well as a wine and cheese reception and book signing. Past KPS poets include nine Poets Laureate of the United States, sixteen winners of the Pulitzer Prize and eleven winners of the National Book Award. KPS typically hosts two poets each fall and two each spring, with additional special events and workshops. KPS poets are exceptional for the excellence of their work, but also their stage presence—bringing personal stories, wit, and deeper meaning to the poems. KPS gatherings provide a welcoming space for poetry readers, writers and enthusiasts to enjoy the spoken word and generate a sense of literary community. Regular readings have a suggested donation of $10/adult and students are free. For more information about readings and events at the Katonah Poetry Series, please visit our web site, http://katonahpoetry.com/. KPS can also be found on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. “If you sat on the steps of the Katonah Village Library for the past [50] years without moving, pretty much every notable American poet would walk by.” —Billy Collins, poet and KPS advisor “What a fantastic service you provide for the community, an unusual service in these fast-paced times, the opportunity to sit in a room to listen and contemplate words and metaphor that often expresses what it means to be alive. Keep up the good work.” —Charles Laird Calia (author and KPS attendee) KPS History: The Katonah Poetry Series—a program of the Katonah Village Library—was founded in 1967 by Robert Phillips, a local resident, accomplished poet and advertising man. When Mr. Phillips left to teach at the University of Houston, two-time Poet Laureate Billy Collins, then a resident of nearby Somers, took it on. Billy Collins directed the Series from 1991-2008, his leadership enhancing its reputation in the literary world and drawing audiences from the greater Tri-State area. Since 2008, Collins has continued to act as Poet Advisor to the Series. From 2008 through July 2010, Billy Collins’ long-time co-director, psychotherapist and poet Leisha Douglas, Ph.D. served as series director with Marlene Gallagher, artist and poet, as assistant director. The series is now run by the KPS Executive Committee, a small group of dedicated volunteers.