Anthony Butts, the featured author for the 2007 African American Read-In at Penn State Altoona, will give a reading of his work at 5:30 p.m. Monday, Feb. 5 in the Edith Davis Eve Chapel on the Penn State Altoona campus.

Dr. Butts is the author of three collections of poetry: Fifth Season (1997), Little Low Heaven (2003), and the forthcoming Male Hysteria. His awards include the Poetry Society of America’s 2004 William Carlos Williams Award (for Little Low Heaven), an Editor’s Choice Small Press Book Award in 1998 (for Fifth Season), and an Ohio Arts Council Fellowship. Dr. Butts is an associate professor of creative writing and English at Carnegie Mellon University.

“The most important question that motivates my writing and teaching,” explains Butts, “is ‘why.’ Speculating, and reaching conclusions, as to the whys of a poem or even of a political dispute can truly serve to bring people together faster­when those people are open to the possibilities inherent within that question.” Dr. Butts’s reading will follow a 5 p.m. performance by the roots music duo The Jivbombers, offering traditional African American blues, swing, and R&B. A book signing will follow the reading.

This feature of the African American Read-In at Penn State Altoona is sponsored by the Africana Research Center of Penn State through the initiative In Pursuit of Social Justice: Recognizing Black PA Artists. This event is free and open to the public.

Souce: Penn State Altoona News

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