Miami University – Marcum Conference Center – 9.18.03
In September 2003, Miami University hosted the Marjorie Cook Conference on Diversity in African American Poetry, which featured readings from 20 poets, papers by leading scholars in the field, and panels addressing a series of issues confronting poets and scholars of contemporary poetry. One of the highlights of the conference was the reading by Lorenzo Thomas. Meshworks is in the process of digitizing readings from the conference for which there is video of sufficient quality and hopes to post others soon. See also Rainbow Darkness for a record and extension of the conference. Thanks to Aldon Nielsen on behalf of the estate of Lorenzo Thomas for permission to post this video.
The books of Lorenzo Thomas (1944-2005) include Extraordinary Measures: Afrocentric Modernism and 20th-Century American Poetry, Dancing on Main Street, Chances Are Few, and The Bathers. Thomas was Professor of English at University of Houston-Downtown.