Poet Nathaniel Mackey to Visit South

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Posted on October 26, 2016

Alice Jackson

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One of America鈥檚 greatest living poets will speak at the University of South Alabama on Tuesday, Nov. 1, in an appearance sponsored by 91短视频鈥檚 Stokes Center for Creative Writing.

Nathaniel Mackey, a leading African-American poet, writer and scholar as well as the Reynolds Price Professor of Creative Writing at Duke University, will speak at 4 p.m. in the University鈥檚 Archaeology Museum. The event will be free and open to the public.

Dr. Nicholas Sturm, visiting assistant professor of creative writing, said Mackey鈥檚 visit 鈥減romises to be a highlight for the entire University.鈥�

鈥淎s a leading poet and theorist of 20th century avant-garde poetics and the black radical traditions in literature and music, Dr. Mackey鈥檚 visit and reading will be a spectacular opportunity to engage with a National Book Award-winning writer and scholar,鈥� Sturm said. 鈥淒r. Mackey鈥檚 reading will be a truly interdisciplinary event that will speak to a range of communities at South, including students and scholars of the visual arts, music, theater, history and anyone interested in creative writing.鈥�

Critics have described Mackey鈥檚 poetry as combining African mythology, African-American musical traditions and modernistic poetic. His several ongoing serial projects explore the relationship of poetry and historical memory as well as the ritual power of poetry and song.

Mackey has received some of the most prestigious awards and honors in American letters, including Yale University鈥檚 Bollingen Prize for American Poetry, 2015; the Ruth Lilly Poetry Prize from the Poetry Foundation, 2014; a Guggenheim Fellowship, 2010; the Stephen Henderson Award from the African American Literature and Culture Society, 2008; the Roy Harvey Pearce/Archive for New Poetry Prize, 2007; an Artist鈥檚 Grant from the Foundation for Contemporary Arts, 2007; the National Book Award in poetry for 鈥淪play Anthem,鈥� 2006; election to the Board of Chancellors of the Academy of American Poets, 2001; and selection of  鈥淓roding Witness鈥� for publication in the National Poetry Series.

The Miami, Fla., native has authored 10 chapbooks of poetry: 鈥淔our for Trane,鈥� 鈥淪eptet for the End of Time,鈥� 鈥淥utlantish,鈥� 鈥淪ong of the Andoumboulou: 18-20,鈥� 鈥淔our for Glenn,鈥� 鈥淎nuncio鈥檚 Last Love Song,鈥� 鈥淥uter Pradesh,鈥� 鈥淢oment鈥檚 Omen,鈥� 鈥淪chool of Oud,鈥� and 鈥淟ay Ghost.鈥� He has written six books of poetry, including 鈥淓roding Witness,鈥� 鈥淪chool of Udhra,鈥� 鈥淲hatsaid Serif,鈥� 鈥淪play Anthem,鈥� 鈥淣od House,鈥� and 鈥淏lue Fasa.鈥�

Mackey鈥檚 work also includes an ongoing prose work, 鈥淔rom a Broken Bottle Traces of Perfume Still Emanante,鈥� of which four volumes have been published: 鈥溾�滲edouin Hornbook,鈥� 鈥淒jbot Baghostus鈥檚 Run,鈥� 鈥淎tet A.D.鈥� and 鈥淏ass Cathedral.鈥� The first three of these have been published together as 鈥淔rom a Broken Bottle Traces of Perfume Still Emanate: Volumes 1-3,鈥� and the fifth, 鈥淟ate Arcade,鈥� will be published by New Directions Press in 2017.

He is also the author of an influential book of literary theory, 鈥淒iscrepant Engagement: Dissonance, Cross-Culturality, and Experimental Writing,鈥� and more recently of 鈥淧aracritical Hinge: Essays, Talks, Notes, Interviews.鈥�

Mackey is the long-time editor of the avant-garde literary journal 鈥淗ambone,鈥� and co-editor of the anthology 鈥淢oment鈥檚 Notice: Jazz in Poetry and Prose.鈥�

He grew up from age 4 in California. He earned his doctorate in English from Stanford University in 1975 and a bachelor of arts from Princeton University in 1969. He previously taught at the University of Wisconsin, Madison, the University of Southern California and the University of California, Santa Cruz.

The Stokes Center enhances the English department鈥檚 offerings in creative writing by sponsoring readings, lectures, forums, community projects and other events. It also supports students through its undergraduate and graduate awards in poetry, fiction and creative nonfiction. The Stokes Center is committed to fostering a vibrant writers鈥� community in Southern Alabama, one that not only showcases both local and national talent, but also provides a meeting place for writers from around the world.

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