Nikki Giovanni, Hanif Abjurrabgib, Nikky Finney and Cornelius Eady added to line up
Acclaimed poets Nikki Giovanni, Hanif Abjurraqib, Nkky Finney and Cornelius Eady have been added to Big Ears Festival line-up. The four poets will join Saul Williams and rock pioneer/poet Patti Smith in events where poets read their works at the festival. While tickets are required for daily Big Ears events, many of the poets’ presentations will be part of the Big Ears events that are free to public.
Born in Knoxville and raised in Cincinnati and Knoxville, Giovanni became one of the most popular and acclaimed poets and activists of the 1960s and ‘70s. She has since become legendary and has been awarded numerous honors, including, most recently the Maya Angelou Lifetime Achievement Award.
Hanif Abjurraqib, a native of Columbus, Ohio, was awarded a MacArthur “Genius” Fellowship in 2021 and was nominated for the National Book Award earlier this year.
Nikky Finney won the 2011 National Book Award for Poetry for her collection “Head Off & Split” and Cornelius Eady, who recently joined the faculty at the University of Tennessee, has been awarded fellowships Rockefeller Foundation, the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation, and the National Endowment for the Arts.
For more information visit www.BigEarsFestival.com.
