A call to courage and connection f rom prize-winning poet and champion for the arts and humanities Elizabeth Alexander.
\nJoin the Library and Politics and Prose Bookst ore for a conversation with acclaimed poet Elizabeth Alexander. In convers ation with journalist Jonathan Capehart\, Alexander will discuss her new b ook of essays Signals Across Vast Distances. \;
\nBooks will be available for purchase at the event. \;
\nAbout the book: &ldquo\;We send signals across vast distances\, hoping to connect.&rdquo\; In luminous prose\, Elizabeth Alexander embraces that hope\, offering resources&mdash\;life wisdom\, historical perspective\, p oetry\, and art&mdash\;to embolden us to &ldquo\;reach beyond ourselves.&r dquo\; Her close readings of visionary poets\, interwoven with extraordina ry visual art\, reveal how poetry and art can sustain us. Her stories of c onnection&mdash\;as a daughter\, wife\, widow\, and mother\; as an aspirin g dancer\; on the dais at President Obama&rsquo\;s inauguration\; in the h ospital with her college-age son&mdash\;deeply move us. She shines a light on our nation&rsquo\;s painful history of inequity\, recounting in her Cl ass Day speech to Yale students the thwarted dream destroyed in 1831 of a Black college in New Haven\; she calls for a reckoning of centuries of inj ustice in historical memory and memorializing. She asks\, What will we eac h do to make the dream of freedom\, for everyone\, real? Every page convey s her hope that we recognize the abundant resources we carry within: langu age\, history\, community\, family\, our bodies\, our stories\, love itsel f. \;Signals Across Vast Distances \;empowers us&mdash\;in Alexand er&rsquo\;s closing words&mdash\;to \;lead with love.
\nAbout the author: Elizabeth Alexander \;is a prize-winning an d \;New York Times \;best-selling author\, renowned poet\, educato r\, scholar\, and cultural advocate. Her memoir\, \;The Light of the W orld\, was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize and National Book Critics Cir cle Award. She composed and recited &ldquo\;Praise Song for the Day&rdquo\ ; for President Barack Obama&rsquo\;s 2009 inauguration and is currently p resident of the Mellon Foundation\, the nation&rsquo\;s largest funder of the arts\, culture\, and humanities. She lives and works in New York City.
\nAbout the conversation partner: Pulitzer Prize-w inning journalist Jonathan Capehart serves as a regular c ontributor to the PBS NewsHour. Capehart is a member of The Washington Pos t editorial board and hosts the "Cape Up" podcast. and Washington Post Liv e's "First Look." He also served as a Spring 2019 fellow at the Georgetown Institute of Politics and Public Service. In 2014\, Advocate magazine ran ked Capehart 9th out of 50 of the most influential LGBT people in media. T hat same year\, Mediaite named him one of the "Top 9 Rising Stars of Cable News." Equality Forum made him a 2018 LGBT History Month Icon. Capehart h as twice made the OUT 100 list. In May 2018\, the publisher of The Washing ton Post awarded him an "Outstanding Contribution Award" for his opinion w riting and "Cape Up" podcast interviews.
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