Lorna Goodison, Poet Laureate of Jamaica, is a recipient of a 2018 Windham-Campbell Prize for Poetry. She will be participating in various talks/readings at Yale University during the Prize Festival (12-14 September). Goodison’s participation is detailed below in chronological order. See the Windham-Campbell Prize website for full festival details.

All events below take place on the Yale University campus and are free & open to the public.

Thursday, September 13

On Becoming a Writer
5:30 PM
Afro-American Cultural Center
211 Park Street
Join prize director Michael Kelleher for a conversation with Lorna Goodison, Lucas Hnath, Cathy Park Hong, and Olivia Laing about their own journeys to becoming writers.

Prize Recipient Readings
7:30 PM
Yale University Art Gallery, Auditorium
1111 Chapel Street
An evening of short readings by the eight recipients of the 2018 Windham-Campbell Prize: Sara Bakewell, Lorna Goodison, Lucas Hnath, Cathy Park Hong, John Keene, Olivia Laing, Jennifer Nansubuga Makumbi, and Suzan-Lori Parks.

Friday, September 14

Memories, Secrets, and Lies: Writing on Family
12:00 PM
New Haven Free Public Library
133 Elm Street
How do you write about family honestly without alienating the people you are writing about? Prize director Michael Kelleher engages Lorna Goodison, Jennifer Nansubuga Makumbi, and Olivia Laing about the risks and rewards of writing about family.

Close Looking: Lorna Goodison on Jacob Lawrence
2:30 PM
Yale University Art Gallery, Print Room
1111 Chapel Street
Lorna Goodison is best known for her poetry, her essays, and her stories, but she is also a trained visual artist who once painted in the Arts Students League alongside Jacob Lawrence. Tess Korobkin talks with Goodison about Lawrence’s Workshop.