Poet Thomas Sayers Ellis to present campus reading

Poet Thomas Sayers Ellis will read from his new book of poems, Skin, Inc.: Identity Repair Poems (Graywolf Press, 2010) at 8 p.m. Wednesday, March 9, in Davis Auditorium, Palamountain Hall. Admission is free and open to the public. 

The publisher calls Skin, Inc. "Ellis's big, ambitious argument in sound and image for an America whose identity is in need of repair. In lyric sequences and his own photographs, Ellis traverses the African-American and American literary landscapes - along the way adding race fearlessness to past and present literary styles and themes, and perform-a-forming tributes for the Godfather of Soul, James Brown, the King of Pop, Michael Jackson, and the election of President Barack Obama.

"Part handbook noir, part identity repair-kit, part plea for poetic wholeness, this collection worries and self-defends, eulogizes and casts a vote, raises a fist and, often, an intimidating song. One sequence is written as a sonic/visual diagram of pronouns and vowels; another contains quotes from editors' rejections of his own poetry included in the book; another poem, "Race Change Operation," begins: "When I awake I will be white, the color of law." Skin, Inc. is the latest work by one of the most audacious and provocative poets now writing."

A New York Journal of Books review noted, "The fine and noble tradition of protest poetry is in safe, strong hands with this latest collection from Thomas Sayers Ellis. As the title states, this is indeed an identity repair kit."

Ellis talked to Publisher's Weekly last summer about the notion of an "identity repair poem" and other aspects of Skin, Inc. Click here to read.