This past Wednesday, Sept. 8, ETSU welcomed poet Tyree Daye to campus to host a lecture and poetry reading as a part of the Black American Writers Series hosted by the Black American Studies program.
Daye is a teaching assistant professor at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and he read poetry from his newest book released in 2020 entitled “Cardinal.” He is from Youngsville, North Carolina, and has also won the 2017 APR Honickman First Book Prize for his first poetry book “River Hymns.”
Daye is a very entertaining scholar who is great with entertaining and interacting with his audience, especially when it pertains to questions and statements they may have about his poetry, or just writing poetry in general. At the end of his poetry reading session, he made sure to open up the floor to the audience participants, whether they were students or staff, to answer their questions they may have and give advice and expertise on poetry writing as a whole.
Daryl Carter, the Director of Black American Studies, explains the importance of the Black American Writers Series being held here at ETSU.
“We started developing this series in the Spring of this year, and we looked at a number of poets and writers across the country. Tyree Daye was one of the top [writers] that we came across. Dr. Jesse Graves helped to choose Daye as a poet to be included in this series.”
This series has helped to bring the Black American Studies program and The Bert C. Bach Written Word Initiative together to create this educational series of Black American Writers in America.
Carter said, “We wanted to provide artistic and cultural opportunities here on the campus, and as President Noland has mentioned, this is the first large academic event held on campus since the beginning of the pandemic.”
This series will continue throughout the semester, and students are invited to come and hear from these talented writers as they speak on their techniques and literature.
As events are scheduled, check out https://www.etsu.edu/afam/writerseries.php to find dates and locations for lectures and readings from various authors.
