Brown University Poet to Read from Older Works, Upcoming Collection for Black Poetry Day

SUNY Plattsburgh will host Matthew Shenoda, author, poet and Brown University professor and chair of literary arts, who will read from his works in commemoration of Black Poetry Day, Thursday, Oct. 15 at 7 p.m. in Krinovitz Recital Hall, Hawkins Hall.

Black Poetry Day is the annual celebration of African American poetry in honor of Jupiter Hammon, former enslaved New Yorker, who was the first published African American poet in the United States. The day recognizes his achievements by inviting poets to campus to share their works in honor of Hammon’s Oct. 17, 1711, birthday.

Shenoda’s poems and essays have appeared in a variety of newspapers, journals, radio programs and anthologies. His debut collection of poems, “Somewhere Else,” was named one of 2005’s debut books of the year by Poets & Writers Magazine and was the winner of a 2006 American Book Award.

The author of “Seasons of Lotus, Seasons of Bone,” “Tahrir Suite: Poems,” winner of the 2015 Arab American Book Award, “The Way of the Earth,” and his upcoming book, “Holdings,” due out in April 2027. The Egyptian American poet is a founding editor of the African Poetry Book fund.

Shenoda began his teaching career at San Francisco State University in the College of Ethnic Studies, where he taught nearly a decade. He has held faculty and administrative positions at various institutions before becoming professor and chair at Brown.

For Black Poetry Day, Shenoda will read from his older works as well as his upcoming collection from “Holdings.” There will be time for questions.

The California native earned his bachelor’s degree from Oregon State University and his Master of Fine Arts from the University of Arizona.

For more information, contact Dr. Tracie Church Guzzio, director of the Honors Program and professor of English, at 518-564-3075 or email [email protected].

— By Associate Director of Communications with Photo Provided