Celebrate Poetry: Art for the Urgent Issues of Our Time
An annual celebration of writers, book, and readers, the Book Lovers Ball features a seated dinner, live auction, presentation of the Milkweed Award for Distinguished Contributions to Literary Culture, storytelling from authors, and more!
We are delighted to be welcoming three poets we’ve had the honor of publishing here at Milkweed Editions in recent years to share both remarks and poems with you at this year’s Book Lovers Ball! Each of these poets make a distinct case for the power of poetry. Limón, Jones, and Brewer are exploring the personal and political issues of our time: identity and belonging, urban and rural divides, racism, sexism, feminism, truth, coming of age, the opioid epidemic and addiction, perseverance in the face of fear and loss, where we come from—and where we might go.
No matter where you’re coming from—poetry enthusiasts to those who haven’t read a poem since high school English class—you’ll be treated to a fun and memorable evening about an artform that is captivating American readers in bold new ways!
Ada Limón
Ada Limón is the twenty-fourth U.S. Poet Laureate as well as the author of The Hurting Kind and five other collections of poems.
Parneshia Jones
Parneshia Jones is the author of Vessel, chosen as “One of 12 Books to Savor” by Oprah Magazine. A member of the Affrilachian Poets, she serves on the board of Cave Canem and Global Writers. Jones currently holds positions as Sales and Subsidiary Rights Manager and Poetry Editor at Northwestern University Press.
William Brewer
William Brewer is the author of I Know Your Kind, a winner of the 2016 National Poetry Series, as well as the chapbook Oxyana, which was awarded the Poetry Society of America Chapbook Fellowship 30 and Under. He is currently a Stegner Fellow at Stanford University. He was born and raised in West Virginia.