U.S. Poet Laureate Ada Limón will share her work in a reading at Emory University on Feb. 11.
— Lucas Marquardt
Ada Limón, the current U.S. poet laureate, will give a public reading at Emory University on Saturday, Feb. 11, 2023, at 3 p.m. in Glenn Auditorium. Books will be for sale at the reading, with a signing immediately following the event.
Attendees can register for the reading, which is open to the public at no charge, at the Emory Libraries Eventbrite page. The event is part of the annual Raymond Danowski Poetry Library Reading Series founded by Emory’s Stuart A. Rose Manuscript, Archives, and Rare Book Library.
“We are so excited to welcome Ada Limón to Emory University,” says Rose Library director Jennifer Gunter King. “Her beautiful and masterful poetry is the perfect opportunity to gather and celebrate the power of words to convey the meaning in our lives. We couldn’t be more thrilled that she has agreed to spend time visiting us.”
During her visit to Emory, Limón will meet with students to talk about poetry and writing.
Known for her accessible and engaging writing, Limón was named the Library of Congress’s 24th U.S. poet laureate in July 2022. Her poems often focus on the beauty of nature and how it centers and grounds the soul. Limón is the author of six poetry collections, including her most recent, “The Hurting Kind” (2022), and “The Carrying” (2018), which won the National Book Critics Circle Award for Poetry. Her book “Bright Dead Things” (2015) was a finalist for the National Book Award and the National Book Critics Circle Award and was nominated for the Kingsley Tufts Poetry Award. Limón’s first book, “Lucky Wreck,” won the Autumn House Poetry Prize in 2005. Her second book, “This Big Fake World,” was the winner of the Pearl Poetry Prize in 2006.
“Poetry is a particular kind of storytelling that goes beyond narrative and calls us to pay attention to the language as well as the story,” says Karen Stolley, professor in the Department of Spanish and Portuguese at Emory University. “I share Ada Limón’s conviction that ‘daily doses of poetry help me move through the world with a bit more groundedness, a bit more humanness.’ I’ve found that students embrace Limón’s work as a reminder, in her words, ‘not to miss the world, not to miss this life, and instead lean into what it offers.’”
Born and raised in Sonoma, California, Limón, who is Mexican-American, now lives in Lexington, Kentucky. A Guggenheim fellow, she also recently served as the host of “The Slowdown,” a critically acclaimed poetry podcast and newsletter by American Public Media.
Limón’s visit is sponsored by the Hightower Fund; Emory Libraries and the Rose Library; Emory’s Department of Spanish and Portuguese and the Creative Writing Program; the Decatur Book Festival, and the Michael C. Carlos Museum. Glenn Auditorium is located on the Emory University campus at 1634 N Decatur Rd., Atlanta, GA 30307. Parking is available in the Fishburne deck.
Limón is also the guest poet at the Rose Library’s annual 12th Night Revel fundraiser held the day before, on Friday, Feb. 10, at 6:30 p.m. The gala offers an intimate experience with poetry readings by attendees and personal interaction with the guest poet. Tickets can be purchased on the Engage Emory website. The generosity of donors enables the Rose Library to offer free readings to the public.