Ohio Writers Series – Marcus Jackson

 

The Public Library of Mount Vernon and Knox County welcomes author Marcus Jackson, recipient of the 2019 Ohioana Book Award in Poetry as part of our “Ohio Writer Series” at the Main Library on Tuesday, July 12th.

Marcus Jackson was born and raised in Toledo, Ohio. After earning his BA at the University of Toledo, he continued his poetry studies in NYU’s graduate creative writing program and as a Cave Canem fellow. His poems have appeared in The American Poetry Review, The New Yorker, and The New York Times Magazine, among other publications. His chapbook, Rundown, was published by Aureole Press in 2009. His debut full-length collection of poems, entitled Neighborhood Register, was released in 2011, and his second book-length collection, Pardon My Heart, was published by TriQuarterly Books/Northwestern University Press in 2018. The New York Times praised “Pardon My Heart” for being “Plain-spoken but never plain…the arrival of a thrilling new voice in American poetry, one whose writing, on page after page, has the fullness and glow of a jubilee.”

This event will be held from 6:30-7:45 pm in our Outdoor Annex in the Main Library’s West Parking Lot (rain site: Urton Clockhouse in Ariel Foundation Park). Mocktails will be served, and Mr. Jackson will read from “Pardon MyHeart” then join in conversation with Andy Grace, Kenyon College professor and peer poet.

The Library is offering free copies of “Pardon My Heart” beginning Monday, June 27th at the Main Library, and continuing while supplies last.

This program is part of the Humanities Grants for Libraries, an initiative of the American Library Association (ALA) made possible with funding from the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) through the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021.

For more information, visit www.knox.net, email knoxwrites1@gmail.com, or call (740)392-BOOK ext, 259.