Jan. 18 & 20, 2022 | Class Visit, UNCC (Dr. Jeffrey Leak, Intro to African-American Literature)

I was honored to learn at the last minute that Dr. Leak, who I had for Af-Am Lit 22 years ago, was teaching Lilies in the Valley last week. It was an absolute treat to talk to the students and read poems that I rarely read or had never read. I sat in on both of last week's courses via Zoom and it was extremely gratifying to be a part of all the frank and intimate discussion that the poems elicited on topics from race and family to relationships and sexuality. This was only my second virtual class visit (h/t to poet/novelist Destiny Birdsong, who taught the book back in '14/'15 at Vanderbilt and invited me in remotely as well as in person.) I'm looking forward to getting up to the alma mater in person sometime this semester.