(BLOOMINGTON) – Renowned poet Saeed Jones, Buzzfeed’s LGBTQ+ editor, is coming to Indiana University Bloomington for a poetry workshop, reading, and question and answer session on March 18.
Saeed Jones, photo by Poetry Foundation
Jones, is an American poet whose debut collection Prelude to Bruise was named a 2014 finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award for poetry. He is also executive editor for culture at BuzzFeed.
His poems engage themes of intimacy, race, and power, and often incorporate elements of mythology. In a 2014 interview for PEN America, Jones stated, “I’m obsessed with manhood as a brutal and artful performance. My mind always finds its way back to the crossroad where sex, race, and power collide. Journeys, transformation, as well as dashed attempts to transform, fascinate me as well.”
In a 2015 essay written for the New York Times, Jones states, “I think often when we talk about brutality and violence … we often hear from the survivors,” says Jones, “but sometimes I think we also need to hear the horror itself.”
The reading, which includes a free lunch, will be from 12:30 to 1:30 p.m.
The workshop follows from 2:30 to 4 p.m. Both events, which are free and open to the public, will be held at the Bridgwaters’ Lounge in the Neal-Marshall Black Culture Center.
