The intersection of poetry and activism is featured at an event at the Delaware Art Museum on February 27.
The Poetry As Activism Celebration is the final event in Traci Currie’s 2024 residency in the Poetry as Activism program at the University of Delaware, which Currie wrapped up in spring, 2024. The event will feature a curated exhibition of visual art as well as performances by six spoken word artists.
Currie said the First State has a vibrant poetry and spoken word scene.
“I think sometimes people always go to New York or to the West Coast and think of spoken word, but I'm just like, Delaware has a rich history too," Currie said.
The program also features a celebration of the work of poet, storyteller, and activist Nikki Giovanni, who lived in Wilmington during the late 1960’s. Currie notes that Giovanni belongs in the same category as other influential writers like James Baldwin.
The museum's Nadjah Pennington said events like this are central to the museum’s focus on engaging all parts of the community it serves.
“Everything that we're doing is intentional to engage with our community," she said. "Wilmington is so diverse and having events like this reminds our community - you can come here.”
Pennington says events like this are central to the museum’s focus on engaging all parts of the community it serves.
Currie said she wants this event to be a place where people from diverse backgrounds can find unity.
“My hope is coming out of this is that we can collectively come together and that also includes allyship - the men folk, for it to be a woman's event, it also has to be an event for all of us," she said.
The Poetry As Activism Celebration starts at 5:00 p.m. on Thursday, February 27 at the Delaware Art Museum. Admission is free.
Delaware Public Media's arts coverage is made possible, in part, by support from the Delaware Division of the Arts, a state agency dedicated to nurturing and supporting the arts in Delaware, in partnership with the National Endowment for the Arts.
