The Harriet Ewens Beck Visiting Writers Series at Denison University presents poet Thomas Sayers Ellis at 8 p.m. on Monday (April 16) in the Barney Davis Board Room. This lecture is free and open to the public.

Ellis' works have appeared in journals and anthologies, including "Harvard Review," "Giant Steps: The New Generation of African American Writers," "Grand Street," "Tin House," and "The Best American Poetry." He is a contributing editor to "Callaloo" and "Poets and Writers." His first full collection, "The Maverick Room," was published in 2005 and takes as its subject Ellis' hometown of Washington D.C. He also is the author of "The Good Junk," a chapter book titled "The Genuine Negro Hero," and the chaplet "Song On." His "Breakfast and Blackfist: Notes for Black Poets" also is forthcoming from the University of Michigan Press, Poets on Poetry Series.

Ellis earned his master of fine arts degree from Brown University in 1995. He has received fellowships and grants from The Fine Arts Work Center, the Ohio Arts Council, Yaddo and The MacDowell Colony. He also is the 2005 recipient of the Whiting Writer's Award for poetry. In 1988, he co-founded The Dark Room Collaborative in Cambridge, Mass. An assistant professor of creative writing at Sarah Lawrence College, he also serves on the faculty of The Lesley University.

Calendar Listing:

CALENDAR LISTING: Denison University, Granville-- Harriet Ewens Beck Series hosts Thomas Sayers Ellis; 8 p.m., Monday (April 16), Barney Davis Board Room (200 West Loop). Free and open to the public. Contact 740-587-6207 to confirm information.

About Denison:

Denison University, founded in 1831, is an independent, residential liberal arts institution located in Granville, Ohio. A highly selective college enrolling 2,100 full-time undergraduate students from all 50 states and dozens of foreign countries, Denison is a place where innovative faculty and motivated students collaborate in rigorous scholarship, civic engagement and the cultivation of independent thinking.

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