Nikki Grimes, celebrated children's author, poet and teacher, will present the first
lecture of the School of Education's Landscape of Urban Education Lecture Series for
the 2008-09 season. Grimes' lecture, "The Power of Poetry," will take place on
Friday, Oct. 17, at 4 p.m. in the Public Events Room (Room 220) in Eggers Hall. The
lecture is free and open to the public. (Paid parking is available in the Irving Avenue
garage.)
A New York Times bestselling author, Grimes received the 2006 National Council of
Teachers of English (NCTE) Award for Excellence in Poetry for Children and the
2005 Golden Dolphin Award by the Southern California Children's Book Association,
recognizing her body of work. Her best-known publications include ALA Notable
Children's Book "What is Goodbye?" (Hyperion, 2004), the novels "Jazmin's
Notebook" (Penquin, 2000), "Dark Sons" (Hyperion, 2007) and "The Road to Paris"
(Penguin, 2008), which is part of the Coretta Scott King Author Honor Books series.
Grimes also is creator of the popular Danitra Brown poetry series about the joys of
teenage friendship.
Grimes, who was born and raised in New York City, considers herself more a poet
than a storyteller. She began composing verse at the age of six and has been writing
ever since. Grimes has written articles for such magazines as Essence, Today's
Christian Woman, Book Links, and Image, Journal of Arts & Religion. An
accomplished and widely anthologized poet of both children's and adult verse,
Grimes has conducted poetry readings and lectures at international schools in Russia,
China, Sweden and Tanzania; short-term mission projects have taken her to such
trouble spots as Haiti.
As part of Teen Read Week, an event sponsored by the Onondaga County Public
Library, the Syracuse City School District (SCSD) and Syracuse University, Grimes
will meet with all 1,600 SCSD eighth graders to read from her work and answer
questions in Hendricks Chapel before her lecture. Grimes also will present two
interactive poetry sessions for Syracuse-area elementary school students in the
OCPL's Curtin Auditorium on Saturday, Oct. 18, at 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. Doors will
open 30 minutes before each program. There is no charge, but seating is limited.
Books will be available for purchase before and after each program.
Grimes' visit to Syracuse is sponsored by the School of Education in cooperation with
the SCSD and the Onondaga Public Library, with funding from the School of
Education and Friends of the Central Library. For information about the lecture,
contact Florence DiGennaro at (315) 443-4696, e-mail fadigenn@syr.edu. For
information about the Saturday poetry programs, contact the Onondaga County
Public Library at (315) 435-1900, or visit http://www.onlib.org.
