QVCC will hold its 14th Annual Julius Sokenu Poetry Awards from 6:30 to 9:00 p.m. on Thursday April 29th, live streamed on QVCC’s YouTube channel. The event, organized by the QVCC Cultural Programming Committee, will feature a reading and performance by The Cornelius Eady Trio and award-winning student poets.
For more information contact Jon Andersen, professor of English at jandersen@qvcc.edu or Elkin Espitia-Loaiza, professor of Spanish, at eespitia-loaiza@qvcc.edu.
National Book Award winner and Pulitzer prize nominated poet Cornelius Eady has set his poetry to song with the Cornelius Eady Trio. Eady’s songs tell the story of passing time, the Black American experience, and the blues in the style of folk & Americana music. Guitarists Charlie Rauh & Lisa Liu create layered and graceful arrangements to bolster Eady’s adept craftsmanship as a songwriter, lyricist, & poet. The Trio have been featured in many venues, including The Smithsonian National Portrait Gallery, the Julia de Burgos Park, and The Sunken Garden Poetry Festival at the Hill-Stead Museum. They have recorded at Sun Studio in Memphis, TN.
The Julius Sokenu Poetry Awards is a lively annual event honoring the best student poetry in English and Spanish at Quinebaug Valley Community College and at the Quinebaug Middle College. The event is sponsored by the QVCC Foundation, Department of English, Department of Spanish, Cultural Programming Committee, QVCC Library, EASTCONN’s Quinebaug Middle College, and the QVCC Student Government Association, as well as generous Julius Sokenu Poetry Prize donors.