|
|
LAWRENCE -- Five poets and an actor participating in the Langston Hughes centennial symposium at the University of Kansas will visit 10 schools in the Lawrence school district on the afternoon of Thursday, Feb. 7.
Students selected through library specialists in seven elementary schools, the two high schools and South Junior High will meet for about an hour with poets Lisa Gillard, Chicago; Hans Ostrom, Tacoma, Wash.; Willie Perdomo, New York; Kevin Powell, Brooklyn, N.Y.; and Kalamu Ya Salaam, New Orleans.
In addition, Danny Glover, actor, producer and director, will meet with students at Central Junior High School. At 7 that night, Glover will give "An Evening with Langston" public performance at the Lied Center.
Their mission: to talk with students about the influence that the poetry of a former Lawrence schoolchild, Langston Hughes, has had on their lives and what it means to be a poet. Hughes lived in Lawrence from 1903 to 1915 and attended Pinckney Elementary School and Central Junior High School, then located at 905 Kentucky. Both schools are scheduled for the visits.
The poets and Glover will be in Lawrence to participate in KU's symposium to celebrate the life and legacy of one of America's premier public poets. His work includes nine children's books.
"This is an opportunity for HughesØ poetry to be read and discussed by people whose passion for poetry equals their passion for young people," said Maryemma Graham, symposium director. "ItØs a sort of mini-festival in the Lawrence schools. What better way to bring Langston home -- to the very schools he attended while living in this community? The writers and performers we have invited to the symposium are people who identify with Hughes and have a particular concern with educating the next generation."
In addition to Pinckney, the poets will visit these elementary schools: Broken Arrow, Centennial, East Heights, Langston Hughes Elementary, New York Elementary and Woodlawn.
The poets and the schools they will visit are:
• Lisa Gillard will visit South Junior High School and Broken Arrow Elementary School. She is an educator and creator of the Gillard Institute Inc., which serves Chicago public schools, colleges and agencies. Its primary mission is to teach at-risk, temporarily poor children creative and technical writing skills.
• Hans Ostrom will meet with Lawrence High School and Centennial Elementary School. He is a distinguished professor of English and co-director of African-American studies at the University of Puget Sound, Tacoma, Wash. His books include "A Langston Hughes Encyclopedia" and "Langston Hughes: A Study of the Short Fiction."
• Willie Perdomo will visit Pinckney and Woodlawn schools. He wrote "Where a Nickel Costs a Dime." Henry Holt publishers will release his new illustrated children's book, "Visiting Langston," in February. He has been featured on several PBS documentaries.
• Kevin Powell will visit New York Elementary and East Heights Elementary schools. He is founding staff member and former senior writer for Vibe magazine, an original member of the cast of the MTV series "The Real World" and a popular editor of contemporary poetry. His recent collection, "Step Into My World," is becoming the definitive anthology for the hip-hop generation.
• Kalamu Ya Salaam will visit Free State High School and Langston Hughes Elementary School. Salaam founded and published Black Collegian, the first magazine dedicated to African-American college youth, and is a widely published journalist and publisher of print and video poetry anthologies. His book "360 Degrees -- A Revolution of Black Poets" traces the development of poetry through three generations.
• Danny Glover, actor, producer and director, has worked on stage, screen and television. He collaborated with Oprah Winfrey in the filming of Alice Walker's "The Color Purple" and Toni Morrison's "Beloved." He often performs with actor Felix Justice in "An Evening with Langston and Martin," a program of readings from the works of Langston Hughes and Martin Luther King Jr. He has worked for causes that help at-risk young people deal with drug addictions, literacy issues and the eradication of poverty.
Arrangements for Danny Glover's appearance were made through Greater Talent Network Inc., New York, N.Y.
-30-
This site is maintained by University Relations, the public relations office for the University of Kansas Lawrence campus. Copyright 2002, the University of Kansas Office of University Relations. Images and information may be reused with notice of copyright, but not altered. kurelations@ku.edu, (785) 864-3256.