Canceled: Ohio Wesleyan to Host Poet, Activist Sonia Sanchez
UPDATE: This event has been canceled. No information about rescheduling is available at this time.
April 7 Event to Include Poetry Reading, Book Signing
DELAWARE, Ohio – In the words of Maya Angelou, “This world is a better place because of Sonia Sanchez: more livable, more laughable, more manageable. I wish millions of people knew that some of the joy in their lives comes from the fact that Sonia Sanchez is writing poetry.”
Sanchez, an internationally renowned presenter on issues of black culture and literature, women’s liberation, peace, and racial justice, will speak at 7 p.m. April 7 in the Benes Rooms of Ohio Wesleyan University’s Hamilton-Williams Campus Center, 40 Rowland Ave., Delaware. Her presentation is free and open to the public.
Sanchez will sign books, which will be available for purchase at the event, following her presentation. She has written more than 16 books, including “Like the Singing Coming off the Drums: Love Poems,” “Shake Loose My Skin,” “Homegirls and Handgrenades,” and, most recently, “Morning Haiku.” Her poetry also appeared in the movie “Love Jones.”
Prior to Sanchez’s visit, Ohio Wesleyan also will present two screenings of the 2015 documentary “BaddDDD Sonia Sanchez,” which producers say offers “unprecedented access to the life, work, and mesmerizing performances of [the] renowned poet and activist.” The free screenings will be held at noon and 6 p.m. April 5 in Crider Lounge on the second floor of Hamilton-Williams Campus Center.
In addition to her poetry, Sanchez also is a contributing editor to both Black Scholar and The Journal of African Studies, and she has edited an anthology, “We Be Word Sorcerers: 25 Stories by Black Americans.”
Sanchez’s honors include earning a National Endowment for the Arts award, a Community Service Award from the National Black Caucus of State Legislators, an American Book Award, a Peace and Freedom Award from the Women International League for Peace and Freedom, a Pew Fellowship in the Arts, a Langston Hughes Poetry Award, a Robert Frost Medal from the Poetry Society of America, a Harper Lee Award, and a National Visionary Leadership Award.
She has lectured at more than 500 universities and colleges in the United States and has traveled extensively, reading her poetry in Africa, Cuba, England, the Caribbean, Australia, Europe, Nicaragua, the People’s Republic of China, Norway, and Canada. Learn more about Sanchez and her work at www.soniasanchez.net.
Sanchez’s Ohio Wesleyan visit is sponsored by both the Sisters United and Wesleyan Council on Student Affairs student organizations and by the Office of Multicultural Student Affairs. The documentary screenings are sponsored by the President's Commission On Cultural and Racial Diversity and by Sisters United.
Founded in 1842, Ohio Wesleyan University is one of the nation’s premier liberal arts universities. Located in Delaware, Ohio, the private university offers 87 undergraduate majors and competes in 23 NCAA Division III varsity sports. Ohio Wesleyan combines a challenging, internationally focused curriculum with off-campus learning and leadership opportunities to connect classroom theory with real-world experience. OWU’s 1,675 students represent 43 U.S. states and territories and 33 countries. Ohio Wesleyan is featured in the book “Colleges That Change Lives,” listed on the latest President’s Higher Education Community Service Honor Roll with Distinction, and included in the U.S. News & World Report and Princeton Review “best colleges” lists. Learn more at www.owu.edu.