Marygrove College Hosts Poet and Author Elizabeth Acevedo

Marygrove College announces New York Times best-selling author and spoken word poet Elizabeth Acevedo as the featured guest at its 2019 Contemporary American Authors Lecture on Friday, April 26, 2019. The 8 p.m. Lillian and Don Bauder Lecture and book signing are free of charge and open to the public.

"Marygrove College is excited to bring to the Detroit community a young award-winning poet and author who has been lauded for her unique work as the 31st Contemporary American Authors Lecturer," said President Dr. Elizabeth Burns. "Elizabeth Acevedo will be the first spoken word artist to participate in the Contemporary American Authors Lecture Series."

Acevedo is the author of the novel THE POET X, which won the 2018 Boston Globe-Horn Book Award for fiction and Beastgirl & Other Origin Myths, a collection of folkloric poems centered on the experiences of a first-generation American woman. She holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Performing Arts from The George Washington University and a Master of Fine Arts degree in Creative Writing from the University of Maryland. She has appeared nationally and internationally at venues such as The Lincoln Center, Madison Square Garden, the Kennedy Center of the Performing Arts, South Africa's State Theatre, The Bozar in Brussels, and the National Library of Kosovo.

Acevedo is a National Slam Champion and her poems have been published or are forthcoming in Poetry, Puerto Del Sol, Callaloo, The Notre Dame Review, and others. Acevedo is a Cave Canem Fellow, Cantomundo Fellow, and participant in the Callaloo Writer's Workshop. Slam poetry, the style of poetry Ms. Acevedo is known for, is a genre in which poets recite original poetry, combining elements of theater, storytelling and other kinds of performance.

For information about sponsorship opportunities for the 2019 event or to attend dinner with the author, contact Dennis Howie at 313-927-1451 or dhowie@marygrove.edu. You may also visit: https://www.marygrove.edu/caals.

Established in the city of Detroit in 1927, Marygrove College is an independent Catholic graduate college sponsored by the Sisters, Servants of the Immaculate Heart of Mary (IHM) and guided by the values of human dignity; community; social justice; ecological justice; excellence; innovation; and diversity. The campus is situated on 53 wooded acres at 8425 W. McNichols Rd., Detroit, MI 48221. Visit www.marygrove.edu.