Alexander to Give Public Reading at Emory

Inaugural poet Elizabeth Alexander will give a public reading at Emory University at 6 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 11, in Glenn Memorial Auditorium, 1652 N. Decatur Rd. Admission is free.

A book signing will follow the reading. Alexander's books, including the inaugural poem and a limited edition broadside, will be available for purchase and signing.

Alexander delivered her inaugural poem, "Praise Song for the Day," before an assembled crowd of more than a million people during Tuesday's ceremonies. "This will be her first public appearance since being on the presidential dais," says Kevin Young, award-winning poet and curator of literary collections and the Raymond Danowski Poetry Library at Emory's Manuscript, Archives, and Rare Book Library.

Poet, essayist, playwright and teacher, Alexander is the author of four books of poems, including "The Venus Hottentot" and "American Sublime," the latter of which was named one of three finalists for the 2005 Pulitzer Prize. She has received many grants and honors, most recently the Alphonse Fletcher Sr. Fellowship and the 2007 Jackson Prize for Poetry, awarded by Poets & Writers. A professor at Yale University, Alexander was recently named Inaugural Poet, only the fourth poet asked to read at a presidential inauguration after Robert Frost, Maya Angelou and Miller Williams.

Alexander's appearance is part of the university's Raymond Danowski Poetry Library Reading Series. Other series events include: Campbell McGrath, 6 p.m. Wednesday, March 18, Jones Room, Woodruff Library; and Li-Young Lee, 6 p.m. Tuesday, April 7, Jones Room, Woodruff Library.