Conway, Ark.—The Hendrix-Murphy Foundation will host Caroline Randall Williams as a Murphy Visiting Writer on Tuesday, September 30, at 7:30 p.m. in Reves Recital Hall at Hendrix College. She will read and discuss her multi-genre work as an award-winning poet, young adult novelist, and cookbook author as well as an activist, public intellectual, performance artist and scholar. Her work has appeared on or been recognized by national media outlets such as: The New York Times, Southern Living, Discovery Plus, and The Root.
A reception and book signing in Trieschmann Gallery will follow the reading. This event is free and open to the public. No tickets or reservations are required.
Randall Williams was slated to appear at Hendrix College in February, but the event was postponed because of inclement weather.
“Those interested in poetry and creative writing will of course find much to enjoy about her visit,” said Visiting Professor of English Ellie Black, “but so will anyone interested in Shakespeare, Black literature and history, cooking, foodways, the South, dance, and activism. Randall Williams has a talent for turning her many interests and areas of study into compelling interdisciplinary narratives for the page, stage, and screen.”
Great-granddaughter of Harlem Renaissance poet Arna Bontemps and daughter of author Alice Randall, Randall Williams is a multi-threat creative who proves that the best conversations really do happen at intersections of many kinds of art. An excerpt of Bontemps’s poem “A Black Man Talks of Reaping” is inscribed on the Hendrix-Murphy Foundation funded Poetry Sidewalk at Hendrix College.
Randall Williams hosts a television series “Hungry for Answers” with Academy award winner Viola Davis executive producing for Discovery Plus, which explores the stories behind Black food in American culture; wrote the New York Times Opinion piece “You Want a Confederate Monument? My Body is a Confederate Monument;” co-authored the NAACP Image Award-winning cookbook “Soul Food Love;” appeared on “Morning Joe,” “Dr. Oz” and “The Last Word with Lawrence O'Donnell;” and debuted her first poetry collection “Lucy Negro, Redux” which was adapted into a ballet by Nashville Ballet, with an original score by Grammy award winner Rhiannon Giddens. With this variety of work across genres it’s fitting that Randall Williams was named by Southern Living as one of the “50 People Changing the South” and ranked by The Root as one of the 100 Most Influential African Americans of 2020.
Randall Williams is currently serving as a Writer-in-Residence at Vanderbilt University’s Medicine, Health, and Society Department. She completed her undergraduate studies in English at Harvard University and received her MFA in Poetry from the University of Mississippi.
The Hendrix-Murphy Foundation Programs in Literature and Language were founded in 1978 by a gift from Charles H. Murphy, Jr., former CEO of Murphy Oil Corporation, in memory of his mother Bertie Wilson Murphy. Their mission is to enhance and enrich the study of literature and language at Hendrix College. For more information, visit hendrixmurphy.org.
To learn more about Caroline Randall Williams’ work and the Hendrix-Murphy Foundation, visit hendrixmurphy.org/randall-williams.
About the Hendrix-Murphy Foundation
The Hendrix-Murphy Foundation Programs in Literature and Language were founded in 1978 by a gift from Charles H. Murphy, Jr., former CEO of Murphy Oil Corporation, in memory of his mother Bertie Wilson Murphy. Their mission is to enhance and enrich the study of literature and language at Hendrix College. For more information, visit hendrixmurphy.org.
About Hendrix College
Founded in 1876, Hendrix College is featured in Colleges That Change Lives: 40 Schools That Will Change the Way You Think About Colleges and celebrated among the country’s leading liberal arts colleges for academic quality, engaged learning opportunities and career preparation, vibrant campus life, and value. The Hendrix College Warriors compete in 21 NCAA Division III sports. Hendrix has been affiliated with the United Methodist Church since 1884. Learn more at hendrix.edu.