Obsidian at 50! JJJJJerome Ellis & Ceremonies of Innovation

Obsidian at 50! JJJJJerome Ellis & Ceremonies of Innovation: Blackness, Music & Disabled Speech—An In-Person Event

Please join us Tuesday, September 30th, in welcoming poet, musician, and multimedia artist JJJJJerome Ellis to Normal, Illinois, for an evening of poetry, music, conversation, and book signing. This event is free and open to the public.

Ellis will read from his most recent work and give a piano and saxophone performance at the University Galleries in Uptown Normal, Illinois, followed by a conversation with Dr. Duriel E. Harris, Q&A, and a book signing.

Artist Bio:

JJJJJerome Ellis is a multimedia artist, musician, composer, writer, performer, and person who stutters. Their work concerns disability, justice, temporality, and historical experience. Their debut album, The Clearing (2021), accompanied by a book, is described as a score of stuttering and an act of resistance against performative fluency. Aster of Ceremonies (Milkweed Editions, 2023), winner of the Balcones Prize, extends the vision of The Clearing, asking what rites we need now and how poetry, astir in the asters, can help them along. JJJJJerome has the great privilege of being married to poet-naturalist Luísa Black Ellis. They live in a monastery on a creek in traditional Nansemond and Chesepioc territory, aka Norfolk, VA.

For questions about the event, or to request an accommodation, please contact Tara Reeser (tareeser@obsidianlit.org). Please allow sufficient time to arrange the accommodation.

You can read the full announcement, order books by JJJJJerome Ellis, and RSVP at https://obsidianlit.org/obsidian-at-50/

These events are sponsored by the Harold K. Sage Foundation and the ISU Foundation Fund and cosponsored by Obsidian: Literature & Arts in the African Diaspora and the ISU Department of English, Creative Writing.