African-American Read-In welcomes literary scholar

On Feb. 23, students, faculty, staff, alumni and community members celebrated Black History Month through the reading of African-American literature at the African-American Read-In.

The six-hour event offered attendees an opportunity to read poems, essays, short stories, scenes from plays and excerpts from novels written by African-American authors. The read-in concluded with local African-American writers reading their original poetry.

Dr. Maryemma Graham, the event’s keynote speaker, is an Augusta Native and African-American literature scholar. Graham is currently a distinguished professor in the Department of English at the University of Kansas. The subject of the keynote address was Margaret Walker’s Civil War novel, Jubilee.

The African-American Read-In is a national event that is sponsored by the National Council of Teachers of English. Augusta University was one of many universities that participated in this year’s read-in.