Michael S. Harper & the Josh Vande Hey Quartet

Join us for an evening of poetry and music as Michael S. Harper, accompanied by the Josh Vande Hey Quartet of Lawrence University, appears in the library's meeting room on Wednesday, April 12, from 6:30-8:30pm. Harper is one of America's most celebrated contemporary poets and a Professor of English at Brown University. His program marks the observances of National Library Week and National Poetry Month and is a Friends of Poetry special event. Harper's reading will include a question and answer period.

Harper is a featured poet on the Bill Moyers series Language of Life. References to Harper's personal experiences and family relationships abound in his work. He has published ten books of poetry. He was elected to membership in the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 1995. Harper has received the National Book Award and a Guggenheim Fellowship. He was the first Poet Laureate of the State of Rhode Island, a position he held from 1988 to 1993. 

Jazz and blues music provide inspiration and rhythm to his poetry. The Josh Vande Hey Quartet will provide jazz accompaniment during the reading. The program is free and open to the general public. It is funded with a grant from the Appleton Library Foundation.