(Conway, Arkansas)— The Hendrix-Murphy Foundation will host Major Jackson as a Hendrix-Murphy Visiting Poet on Thursday, October 9, at 7:30 p.m. in Reves Recital Hall in Trieschman Fine Arts Building at Hendrix College. He will read and discuss his award-winning poetry. His poems and essays have appeared in AGNI, American Poetry Review, Callaloo, The New Yorker, Ploughshares, Poetry, Tin House, and in Best American Poetry.
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. To learn more visit hendrixmurphy.org/major-jackson.
“Major Jackson's work asks us to think about the communities we claim, the ones that claim us—and the ones that have taught us we have no place,” said Marie Kressin, assistant professor of English.
“As an artist, his career both honors and resists tradition. What art influences us most? Who's making it? Who isn't? These are the questions I ask when I encounter Jackson's work.”
Jackson is the author of six collections of poetry: “Razzle Dazzle: New & Selected Poems”; “The Absurd Man”; “Roll Deep”; “Holding Company”; “Hoops”; and “Leaving Saturn”, which was awarded the Cave Canem Poetry Prize and was a finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award in Poetry.
In 2023, Jackson was inducted into the Academy of Arts & Sciences and received a fellowship for distinguished poetic achievement from the Academy of American Poets. He is a recipient of a Pushcart Prize, a Whiting Writers’ Award, Yale Library’s Patricia Cannon Willis Prize for American Poetry, and has been honored by the Pew Fellowship in the Arts and the Witter Bynner Foundation in conjunction with the Library of Congress.
He also hosted two seasons of podcast “The Slowdown”, a series that shares with listeners a poem and moment of reflection. It's produced by APM Studios in partnership with The Poetry Foundation and supported in part by the National Endowment for the Arts.
“I'm excited for this event,” said Kressin, “because it provides our students and the community an opportunity to be in conversation with a writer who carved space for himself and other historically silenced voices in the literary landscape—a responsibility I hope our we all will be empowered to share.”
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.