On Friday March 17 at 7 p.m. at the Main branch of the Richland Library, Yomi Sode, Jennifer Bartell Boykin, and students from Keenan High School, Spring Valley High School, Allen University, and the University of South Carolina will gather for a Celebration of Words.
Richland Library says this ceremony seeks to honor “the importance of different voices that help youth make sense of the world around them.”
Yomi Sode is a Nigerian British writer, and a recipient of the 2019 Jerwood Compton Poetry Fellowship as well as a finalist for the 2022 T.S. Eliot Prize. His latest project is a book of poetry titled Manorism, which was released in October 2022. These poems explore the complexities of generational trauma, family, and being a Black man in Britain.
Sode—in partnership with education coordinator and poet in his own right, Peter Kahn—will also be hosting poetry workshops around Columbia high schools and colleges the week before the celebration.
Jennifer Bartell Boykin is the City of Columbia’s very own poet laureate. She teaches at Spring Valley High School where she won Teacher of the Year in 2019, and she has had poetry published in Callaloo, PLUCK!, Blackberry, Fall Lines, and of course, our very own Jasper Magazine.
The main event will be preceded by a light reception at 6:15. It is free and open to the public! More details on the libraries’ website.