Smith/Thompson Poetry Reading April 3, 2012
In honor of National Poetry Month, the Alabama Center for the Book along with University of Alabama Libraries and the Alabama Writers’ Forum hosted a poetry reading April 3 in Gorgas Library. Returning to their creative roots, two Master of Fine Arts graduates from the University of Alabama, Jeanie Thompson and Abraham Smith read their poetry to a large audience of close to 100 students, faculty, staff, and friends of the poets.
Thompson and Smith, who graduated in 1977 and 2004, respectively, were both recently selected as the 2012 Alabama State Council on the Arts literature fellows.
Thompson, executive director of the Alabama Writers’ Forum, read selections, for the first time, from her developing new book, “The Myth of W-a-t-e-r”, which delves into the life of Alabama native Helen Keller.
Smith, an English professor at UA and assistant editor of Slash Pine Press, performed a variety of his poems.
Both Thompson and Smith will perform another reading in Montgomery on April 21 in the poetry tent at the Alabama Book Festival.