The 22nd Annual Witte Lectures- Richard Blanco

Richard Blanco
The Civic Role of Poetry: For and Of the People
February 8 & 9, 2019

As presidential inaugural poet for Barack Obama, Richard Blanco has crisscrossed the nation inviting communities to connect to the heart of human experience and our common identity as a country. Join Richard as he shares his stories and experiences as a civic-minded poet through poems from his latest collection Boundaries, and his forthcoming book, How to Love a Country. Both publications investigate the complex sociopolitical issues that shadow America, while also remembering to celebrate our ideals and hopes. He will also share occasional poems he has written for the Boston Marathon bombings, the U.S. Embassy reopening in Cuba, the Pulse Nightclub shooting, Freedom To Marry poem, and other projects aimed at fostering the role of advocacy that poetry can (ought to) play in the public realm with respect to our nationhood and matters that affect us collectively, including gender, sexuality, class, immigration, and race.