Nikky Finney, 37th Annual ODU Literary Festival

NIKKY FINNEY was born in South Carolina, within listening distance of the sea. A child of activists, she came of age during the civil rights and black arts movements. At Talladega College, nurtured by Hale Woodruff\u27s Amistad murals, Finney began to understand the powerful synergy between art and history. Finney is a founding member of the Affrilachian Poets and on the Cave Canem faculty. She has authored four books: Head Off & Split (2011), which was awarded the 2011 National Book Award for poetry; The World Is Round (2003); Rice (1995); and On Wings Made of Gauze (1985). After 21 years at the University of Kentucky, Finney has returned to her home state as the John H. Bennett Jr. Chair in Southern Letters and Literature at the University of South Carolina

Poetry: Readings and Remarks

Michael P. Dean, moderato