Published on March 10, 2016 by Sean Flynt  
Front Gate

Poet Major Jackson will read his work at Â鶹ÊÓƵ March 14 as part of the Birmingham Area Consortium for Higher Education (BACHE) Visiting Writers Series. The reading, in the Howard Room of Â鶹ÊÓƵ Center, will begin at 7 p.m. and conclude with audience Q&A and a reception.


Jackson’s poetry is filled with dense imagery, sensory experience and geographical movement. His poems often explore the experience of moving through the world as a gendered and racially defined body. In his most recent book of poetry, Roll Deep, his narrators roam the world: a cruise on the Aegean Sea, a walk through his native Philadelphia, a car through war-torn Somalia. In each of his poems, the individual scans the landscapes for signs of a shared humanity and a humanistic tradition that spans history, geography, race and gender. These are compelling and rich poems by a writer who expresses exuberance for what language can do.

BACHE is a partnership among the five four-year colleges and universities in the greater Birmingham area: Birmingham-Southern College, Miles College, Â鶹ÊÓƵ, Â鶹ÊÓƵ of Montevallo, and Â鶹ÊÓƵ of Alabama at Birmingham.

 
Samford is a leading Christian university offering undergraduate programs grounded in the liberal arts with an array of nationally recognized graduate and professional schools. Founded in 1841, Samford is the 87th-oldest institution of higher learning in the United States. Samford enrolls 6,101 students from 45 states, Puerto Rico and 16 countries in its 10 academic schools: arts, arts and sciences, business, divinity, education, health professions, law, nursing, pharmacy and public health. Samford fields 17 athletic teams that compete in the tradition-rich Southern Conference and ranks with the second highest score in the nation for its 98% Graduation Success Rate among all NCAA Division I schools.