Harvard has invited me to come to Cambridge, Mass., to read poems from The Jaguars That Prowl Our Dreams as part of the Harvard Authors Speakers’ Series.
This invitation, which I think is due in large part to Jaguars winning the 2019 Eric Hoffer Small Press Award, came as a surprise, but–better yet–it comes as a sign of how much Harvard has changed in its attitude toward women since I was an undergraduate.
In those dark days of Harvard misogyny, women were prohibited from entering Lamont, the undergraduate library, which meant I never got to hear Allen Ginsberg, Robert Frost, or any of the other famous poets who came to Harvard read from their work.
On Monday, October 21st, at 7:00 PM, I’ll be reading from Jaguars at The Harvard Coop (which is what Harvard calls its bookstore). I’ll also be talking about the fires raging in the Amazon, since so many of my poems are set there. I plan to dedicate this reading to Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, who like me, was turned away when she tried to enter Lamont because she was a woman.
I’ll also give a shout out to Margaret Atwood who was pursuing her graduate studies at Harvard the same year I was a freshman. Atwood used Cambridge and Harvard Yard as settings for both A Handmaid’s Tale and Testaments.
Drop by and join me if you’re in the neighborhood.
Time: 7:00 PM. Place:The Harvard Coop, 1400 Massachusetts Ave, Cambridge MA 01238.