The ENG450 Studies in Genre: Poetry cohort is hosting a spoken word event on Wednesday, December 12, 2018. Students, faculty, staff, and community members are invited to attend a closed-mic poetry recitation that will take place in Eagle Hall from 10:30 a.m. to noon.

The event is sponsored by The Red River Innovation Lab for the Humanities and is organized by Dr. Jaime Cantrell, Assistant Professor of English at Texas A&M Texarkana.

Attendees can expect to hear passionate, inspiring, and thrilling renditions of poetry ranging from well-loved classics by Edgar Allan Poe and William Blake, as well as contemporary poets including Dudley Randall, Carol Ann Duffy, and Sharon Olds.

Dr. Jaime Cantrell

In addition to student performances, our Dean of the College Arts, Sciences, and Education, Dr. Del Doughty, has agreed to share a few of his favorite Shakespearean sonnets.

Ana Bourgeois, an undergraduate dual-majoring in English and History said, “Poetry has a long reach and this event is a unique showcase of that variety. My classmates and I have chosen surprising and powerful pieces that crack open the universality of sex, death, faith and in one case: a dang good book. Dr. Cantrell has used this class to explore the wide accessibility of meaning in poetry and I hope our performances reflect that.”

Click the Play button below to hear Dr. Cantrell’s message for Eagle Eye readers: