Wednesday, Jan. 26 at 8pm ET | 5pm PT, PBS Books, in partnership with Poetry In America and the Association for the Study of African American Life and History (ASALH), is pleased to present a conversation with poet Evie Shockley, historian Robin D.G. Kelly, and actress LisaGay Hamilton, which will be led by Poetry In America Executive Producer and Creator Elisa New.
Highlighting Poetry In America’s Season 3, Episode 4, Elisa New will interview poet Evie Shockley about her satiric humor poem “you can say that again, billie,” which is inspired by Billie Holiday’s haunting song “Strange Fruit.” Shockley will converse with historian Robin D.G. Kelley and actor LisaGay Hamilton to discuss the history of racism, violence, and artistic tradition in the American south.
About the Poet Evie Shockley
Evie Shockley is a poet and scholar. Her most recent poetry collections, the new black (Wesleyan, 2011) and semiautomatic (Wesleyan, 2017), both won the Hurston/Wright Legacy Award; the latter was also a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize and the LA Times Book Prize. Her poetry has appeared internationally in print and audio formats, in English and in translation. She has received the Lannan Literary Award for Poetry, the Stephen Henderson Award, the Holmes National Poetry Prize, and fellowships from the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study and Cave Canem, among others. Shockley is Professor of English at Rutgers University.
About the Featured Guest Robin D. G. Kelley
Robin D. G. Kelley is the Gary B. Nash Endowed Chair in U.S. History at UCLA. His books include, Thelonious Monk: The Life and Times of an American Original and Freedom Dreams: The Black Radical Imagination. He is currently completing two books, Black Bodies Swinging: An American Postmortem and The Education of Ms. Grace Halsell: An Intimate History of the American Century (both forthcoming Metropolitan Books). His essays have appeared in several anthologies and publications, including The Nation, Monthly Review, New York Times, and The Boston Review, for which he also serves as Contributing Editor.
About the Featured Guest LisaGay Hamilton
LisaGay Hamilton’s illustrious film career includes roles in “Ad Astra,” “Vice,” “Beautiful Boy,” “The Last Full Measure,” “Go For Sisters,” “Life of a King,” “True Crime,” “Palookaville,” “Drunks,” “The Sum of All Fears,” “Hamlet,” “Beloved,” “The Truth About Charlie,” “Nine Lives,” “Honeydripper,” “The Tourist,” “The Soloist,” and more.
On television, Hamilton can currently be seen in the Hulu series, “The Dropout.” Other notable credits include “Sorry For Your Loss,” “The First,” “Chance,” and “House of Cards.” Hamilton is well known for her regular role on the Emmy Award-winning “The Practice,” for which she also directed an episode. Hamilton’s documentary, “Beah: A Black Woman Speaks,” which she directed and co-produced with Jonathan Demme, premiered on HBO and won Best Documentary at the AFI Awards and a Peabody Award. Hamilton’s theater credits include, on Broadway, “To Kill A Mockingbird,” August Wilson’s “Gem of the Ocean, and the original production of Wilson’s “The Piano Lesson,” as well as “Measure for Measure” at the New York Shakespeare Theatre Festival. She earned an Obie Award and the Clarence Derwent Award for her role in Athol Fugard’s “Valley Song.”
About the Moderator
Elisa New is the Director and Host of Poetry in America, director of the Center of Public Humanities at Arizona State University, director of Verse Video Education, and Powell M. Cabot Professor of American Literature at Harvard University. New created Poetry in America, a PBS series, to bring poetry into living rooms and onto screens of all kinds. The show can be seen on public television and streaming platforms, in schools and libraries, and on airlines. Guests include Joe Biden, Herbie Hancock, Gloria Estefan, Shaquille O’Neal, Elena Kagan, Nas, John McCain, Sonia Sanchez, Tony Kushner, Bill Clinton, Julia Alvarez, Bono, Cynthia Nixon, John Kerry, LisaGay Hamilton, Caroline Kennedy, Katie Couric, Al Gore, and David Strathairn. Along with the series, New produces educational materials on American poetry for all ages—from middle- and high-school students, to K-12 teachers, to lifelong learners—distributed by Harvard University, Amplify Education, and Arizona State University.
About Poetry In America
Poetry in America, created and directed by Harvard professor Elisa New, is a public television series and multi-platform educational initiative that brings the highest quality humanities content to diverse audiences around the world.
Poetry in America for-credit courses, non-credit learning experiences, and professional development opportunities—including programming designed specifically for high-school students and K-12 teachers—are available in partnership with Arizona State University and Harvard. The Poetry in America series is presented by GBH Boston and distributed by PBS Plus and American Public Television. Season One aired nationally in 2018. Season Two aired in April 2020, and Season Three will premiere in January 2022.
Funder information
Support for the television series Poetry in America is provided by the National Endowment for the Humanities, Dalio Philanthropies, the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, the Poetry Foundation, Deborah Hayes Stone and Max Stone.
Any views, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this program do not necessarily represent those of the National Endowment for the Humanities.