Thursday, March 28, 2013

George Washington Carver: With Poet Marilyn Nelson at the Kellogg Environmental Center



DERBY - The Kellogg Environmental Center will hold a poetry reading and book signing by Marilyn Nelson at 2 p.m. May 11 "to celebrate the birthday of Frances Osborne Kellogg and her interest in supporting the arts and bringing famous speakers and performers to the Valley," according to a statement.
Nelson will read from her collection of poems, "Carver:  A Life in Poems," a "collection that provides young readers with a compelling account of the life of African-American botanist and inventor George Washington Carver," the statement said.


The program is free.

Also in the statement (unedited here):
George Washington Carver
Born in 1864 and raised by white slave owners, Carver left home in search of an education and eventually earned a master's degree in agriculture.  Rising to head the Agriculture Department at Tuskegee Institute and known for his studies on sweet potatoes, cowpeas and peanuts, Dr. Carver provided many products and agricultural innovations. 
Poet Marilyn Nelson
Poet Marilyn Nelson is the author or translator of fifteen books and five chapbooks. Her honors include two NEA creative writing fellowships, the 1990 Connecticut Arts Award, an A.C.L.S. Contemplative Practices Fellowship, the Department of the Army's Commander's Award for Public Service, a Fulbright Teaching Fellowship, a fellowship from the J.S. Guggenheim Memorial Foundation, and the Frost Medal—the Poetry Society of America's most prestigious award, for a "distinguished lifetime achievement in poetry." Nelson is a professor emerita of English at the University of Connecticut; was (2004-2010) founder/director and host of Soul Mountain Retreat, a small non-profit writers' colony; and held the office of Poet Laureate of the State of Connecticut from 2001-2006. 
The program is free but donations are gratefully accepted and refreshments will be provided.  
The Kellogg Environmental Center, operated by the Department of Energy and Environmental Protection, at 500 Hawthorne Ave. It is open 9 a.m. yo 4:30 p.m, Tuesday through Saturday.  For more information please call (203) 734-2513.

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