A Tribute to June Jordan

A Tribute to June Jordan is an intergenerational exploration of the legendary poet’s life, work, and legacy. This daylong conference will begin with a keynote address by Jan Heller Levi. A series of lectures, discussions and readings will follow featuring aracelis girmay, E. Ethelbert Miller and Evie Shockley, among many others. Free and open to the public, this event is co-presented with the Center for the Humanities at the CUNY Graduate Center, The June M. Jordan Literary Estate Trust, Lost & Found: The CUNY Poetics Document Initiative, The Center for the Humanities at the Graduate Center, CUNY, The Institute for Research on the African Diaspora in the Americas and the Caribbean (IRADAC), The Feminist Press at CUNY.

This event is sponsored by HarperCollins Publishers, Alice James Books, the Center for African American Poetry and Poetics and NYU Creative Writing Program.

Friday, May 18, 2018

10:30am – 11:15am
Keynote Lecture by Jan Heller Levi

11:30am – 12:15pm
Liberatory Pedagogy with Conor Tomás Reed, Talia Shalev and Dorothy Wang

12:15-1:15pm
Break

1:15pm – 2:30pm
Poetry for the People: A Revolutionary Blueprint for Building Literary Communities with JP Howard, Joseph O. Legaspi and Deborah Paredez, moderated by Hafizah Geter

2:45pm – 4pm
For the Sake of People’s Poetry: Panelists Discuss Jordan’s Essay about Inclusivity and Accessibility with Donna Masini, E. Ethelbert Miller and Evie Shockley, moderated by Erica Hunt

4:15pm – 5:30pm
We’re On: Writers in Conversation About How the June Jordan Reader Can Carry Us Into New Forms of Revolution w/ Suzanne Gardinier, Rachel Eliza Griffiths and Patricia Spears Jones, moderated by Carey Salerno

5:30pm – 6:30pm
Break

6:30 pm
A Reading of June Jordan’s work with Jennifer Benka, Dr. Joshua Bennett, Hafizah Geter, aracelis girmay, Rachel Eliza Griffiths, JP Howard, Erica Hunt, Tyehimba Jess, Patricia Spears Jones, Christoph Keller, Joseph O. Legaspi, and Evie Shockley, among others.