'The Mackey Sessions:' Duke Professor Headlines Three-Day Poetry Festival
Nathaniel Mackey's poetry will be center stage at Blackburn Literary Festival
Jazz threads through the work of prize-winning poet and Duke professor Nathaniel Mackey. The two – jazz and poetry -- come together during this year’s Blackburn Literary Festival, which has been dubbed “The Mackey Sessions.” The three-day poetry festival takes place Sept. 20-22 at venues on campus and off.
The celebration kicks off Thursday evening at the Durham Hotel with a reception and reading by poets Fred Moten and Ed Roberson. On Friday evening, Mackey reads selections from his work to musical accompaniment, at the Rubenstein Arts Center. The series wraps up Saturday morning with a “Coltrane-centric” group poetry reading to musical accompaniment over brunch at the Durham Hotel.
Mackey talks more about his poetry and its connection with music in this Taking Note profile published in 2015.