Credit: IWU Website
Award-winning poet Jonah Micon-Webster will visit Illinois Wesleyan on Wednesday, Feb. 8. Mizon-Webster will give a poetry reading in the Beckman Auditorium in Ames Library, and copies of his debut poetry collection, “Stereo(TYPE)” will be available for purchase.
Before his poetry reading, a talk with the poet will be held in State Farm Hall Room 203 at 11:30 a.m. with limited space for students to attend, and lunch will be provided. Those interested can RSVP to english@iwu.edu by Feb. 6.
Mixon-Webster attended Illinois State University to receive his Ph.D in creative writing and is currently the inaugural Mellon Arts Postdoctoral Fellow in African American and African Diaspora Studies at Columbia University. His collection of poems explores his identity as a Black man, a queer individual and a resident of Flint, Michigan. “Stereo(TYPE)” also received the PEN America/Joyce Osterweil Award and was a finalist for the Lambda Literary Award for Gay Poetry.
Senior English writing and environmental studies student Emilie Ottinger was initially drawn to the poet’s work about the Flint water crisis and suggested the idea to invite Mixon-Webster to IWU.
The event is also sponsored by English honor society Sigma Tau Delta, Tributaries, IWU Pride, Lyrical Graffiti, the Office of Diversity and Inclusion and the English Department.
“All those interested in environmental studies, race and social justice issues, and the poetry of place will find his work to be deeply engaging,” said President of Sigma Tau Delta Jessica Buttel in an email to students. His poetry reading is free and open to the public.