The Poetry and Poetic Legacy of Frances E.W. Harper

Thursday, February 24, 7pm – Frances Harper Week

The Poetry and Poetic Legacy of Frances E.W. Harper

This event will feature Melba Joyce Boyd and Sonia Sanchez reading poetry by Frances E.W. Harper and their own poetry. An open reading of contemporary poetry in Harper’s tradition of social activism will follow. This event will include poetry by Philadelphia high school students who have been studying Frances E.W. Harper.

Sonia Sanchez is a poet, mother, activist, professor, and international lecturer on black culture and literature, women’s liberation, peace and racial justice. She has written over 16 books, including most recently, Morning Haiku. Sanchez was the first Presidential Fellow at Temple University, where she held the Laura Carnell Chair in English. The recipient of numerous awards, Sanchez has been honored by: the National Endowment for the Arts; the Pennsylvania Coalition of 100 Black Women; the National Black Caucus of State Legislators; the Governor’s Award for Excellence in the Humanities; the Peace and Freedom Award; and a Pew Fellowship in the Arts.

Melba Joyce Boyd is Distinguished Professor and Chair of Africana Studies at Wayne State University. She is the author of thirteen books, including Wrestling with the Muse: Dudley Randall and the Broadside Press which received the 2005 Black Caucus of the American Library Association Book Honor for Nonfiction, and the editor of Roses and Revolutions: the Collected Writings of Dudley Randall, which received the 2010 Library of Michigan Notable Books Award and was a finalist for a 2010 NAACP Image Award in Literature.

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4 thoughts on “The Poetry and Poetic Legacy of Frances E.W. Harper”

  1. I find The Poetry and Poetic Legacy of Frances E.W. Harper to be an incredibly inspiring and powerful collection of literature. It is truly remarkable how she was able to use her words to so effectively capture the struggles and triumphs of the African American experience. Her poetry is both beautiful and thought-provoking and I am so thankful to have had the opportunity to read her work.

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