March 2012 Archives

The 2012 VCU Technology Fair, co-sponsored by VCU Technology Services and the VCU Libraries, brings the latest in technology developments for the classroom, office and research to VCU on Tuesday and Wednesday, April 3 and 4.

Thinking about purchasing an iPad, tablet, laptop or desktop printer? Want to learn more about VCU wireless, video conferencing or the Google Apps for Education? Investigate through hands-on experiences and demonostrations of new products. Workshops by Apple, Atomic Learning, BlackBoard, Dell and Instructure will be offered.

Attendees get chances at winning a Dell laptop, an iPad, a Kindle or an Chrome Book.

Where and When
University Student Commons, Richmond Salons
Monroe Park Campus
Tuesday, April 3
9 a.m. to 10:30 a.m. with light refreshments, faculty and staff only
10:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. with snack luncheon, students, faculty and staff

Tompkins-McCaw Library
Medical College of Virginia Campus
901 North 12th St.
Wednesday, April 4
9 a.m. to 2 p.m. with snack luncheon, faculty, staff and students

For additional information
Hope Adams at the Monroe Park Campus: adamsh@vcu.edu
Shannon Jones at the MCV Campus: sdjones@vcu.edu

VCU Libraries now offers bicycles for patrons to borrow for 24 hours. The bike loan program is a joint project of VCU RamBikes and  VCU Goes Green.

The project is designed to make getting across campus easier and faster for students who have occasional need of two-wheel transportation.

The bicycles are Sun Atlas coasters with foot breaks and without gears. 

There are four bikes available at James Branch Cabell Library and another four bikes available at Tompkins-McCaw Library for the Health Sciences.

• Bikes must be returned to the location where they were borrowed.
• Bikes are loaned for 24 hours; patrons can renew them for an additional 24 hours using My Library Record or by calling the service desk at either library (Cabell Library 828-1111; Tompkins-McCaw Library 828-0636).
  
• Overdue fines of $25 per day or portion of a day are assessed on bikes not returned by the date and time due.
• Helmets are loaned with the bikes, and are available in small/medium and large/extra large; both are adjustable.
  
• The seat height is also adjustable, and an Allen wrench (also known as a hex key) is available for patrons to use.
• Bikes are available on a first-come, first-served basis.
  
• Patrons are required to sign a waiver of liability statement before they can check out the key to the lock securing a particular bike to the rack in front of the library building.

James Branch Cabell Library on March 18 began extended operations, opening earlier on Sundays (10 a.m. compared to 11 a.m.) and closing later on Fridays and Saturdays, at 10 p.m. rather than 6 p.m.
 
Students apparently welcome the change. Data from the first week of extended services shows library use that compares favorably to library use during the beginning and end of previous extended hours during exams.

          • 2010 people were in the building during the 2 a.m. to 7:30 a.m. period during the first week.
          • During a census taken Monday, March 26 at 3:45 a.m., 105 people were studying in the building, about half in the second floor Cabell Learning Commons.
          • The census on Monday showed that 10 out of 14 study rooms on the second floor were in use at 3:45 a.m.

Weekend use is also up by more than 1,000 patrons.

          • 472 patrons used the library during the new 6 to 10 p.m. Friday night hours. Previously, Cabell closed at 6 p.m.
          • 588 patrons used the library during the new 6 to 10 p.m. Saturday night hours. Previously, Cabell closed at 6 p.m.
 
 

Dr. Jack D. Spiro will present "Jerusalem: A Tale of Three Cities," the 27th Annual Brown-Lyons Lecture on March 29, 2012, at 7:30 at the W.E. Singleton Center for the Performing Arts. Spiro will explore the city's diverse meanings in Judaism, Christianity, and Islam through memories, practices, literary sources, values and beliefs. He will discuss the conflicting visions of the city as "sacred space"--in addition to the controversial issue of Jerusalem as the unified capital of Israel?

The VCU Friends of the Libraries and the VCU Department of English present a reading by Pulitzer Prize-winning poet Yusef
Komunyakaa on March 22 at 7 p.m. at the W.E. Singleton Center for the Performing Arts.   

Komunyakaa is the author of many books, including his collected works, "Pleasure Dome" (2001, Wesleyan University Press), and his latest, "The Chameleon Couch" (2011, Farrar, Straus and Giroux). He received the Pulitzer Prize in Poetry and the Kingsley Tufts Poetry Award for "Neon Vernacular" (1993, Wesleyan University Press), his selected works. In 2011, he received the Wallace Stevens Award from the Academy of American Poets. He is currently Distinguished Senior Poet in the creative writing program at New York University.

Komunyakaa's often autobiographical poems draw from diverse experiences and interests: the civil rights movement, classical literature, the Vietnam War, class struggle and jazz. He received a Bronze Star for his service as a war correspondent in Southeast Asia. His book "Dien Cai Dau" (1988, Wesleyan University Press) is lauded as some of the finest writing about the Vietnam War and its times. His poems about black America and music are celebrated as both masterpieces of verse and vital cultural documents. "The task of the poet," he says, "is to pose serious questions that can make us more human."

Books will be available for purchase at the event, and a public reception and book signing will be held immediately following the reading. Doors open at 6:30 p.m. The event is free and open to all, but because seating is limited, registration is required. For special accommodations or to register offline, please contact Gregory Kimbrell at (804) 828-0593 or kimbrellgg@vcu.edu.

Yusef Komunyakaa, a renowed poet and teacher, presented March 22 at the W.E. Singleton Center for the Performing Arts. Some 300 attendees listened as he read and took questions. Event Web site To put his visit in context, University News reporter Leila Ugincius wrote an article "Poetry Thrives at VCU" that details the university's role as a mecca for poets. The article is reprinted here with permission of University News Center:

Writers and poets may not be able to pinpoint exactly what makes Richmond a hotbed for poetry, but most would agree the city is undoubtedly a mecca for poets, with Virginia Commonwealth University at its very heart.

"Richmond is a city with a wealth not just of history, but of living, breathing talent, perhaps literary talent especially," said Gregory G. Kimbrell, membership and events coordinator with VCU Libraries and himself a poet.

"Not every historical city thrives in this way, and I would say that we have VCU to thank for much of Richmond's vivacity. The nationally ranked MFA in Creative Writing Program continually brings to the literary community fresh faces to remind us all what it means to discover oneself as a writer, that good writing is not just about beautiful or important things, but about dedication and passion."

David Wojahn called the university a rich community for poetry. "There are a lot of complementary ventures on the campus that really are focusing on trying to give requisite attention to poetry in general and poetry in Virginia, specifically," said Wojahn, a professor in the creative writing program in the Department of English.

The university's latest celebration of poetry takes place this week with a reading by Pulitzer Prize-winner Yusef Komunyakaa (pictured) on Thursday, March 22. 

Komunyakaa's often-autobiographical poems draw from diverse experiences and interests: the civil rights movement, classical literature, the Vietnam War, class struggle and jazz.

"He's really one of America's premier poets," Wojahn said. "He began in the 1980s and '90s to write a lot about his experience - and the American experience in general - about Vietnam. So he's known above all for the poems he's written about that conflict."

Events that bring writers such as Komunyakaa to campus serve two purposes: both encouraging students and offering something to the community.

"Creative-writing students need contact with the great poets in order to have examples to aspire to and to improve their work, and this means not just reading the classics, but also reading and hearing the great poets who are living and writing right now," Kimbrell said. "The community provides VCU so much moral and financial support, and we are always looking for ways of both saying thank you and inviting them to come back to visit us.

"These readings bring people from all across the city. I suppose that the stereotype of poetry readings is the coffee house in which only five people are actually paying attention to the poet sitting on the wooden stool in the spotlight, but these readings at VCU attract hundreds. In a world that often seems to think that poetry stopped being written after the beat generation, this is tremendously heartening."

The event, part of the English Department's Visiting Writers Series and sponsored by the VCU Friends of the Library, continues both entities' interest and commitment to promoting poetry in the community.

The English Department has "a nationally ranked creative writing program in poetry and in fiction. And so, we also bring a lot of visiting poets to campus," Wojahn said. "The Cabell Library has really been in recent years very interested in promoting poetry in Virginia and in trying to beef up its special collections to include a lot of poetry."

Among Cabell's more notable acquisitions are the papers of the late Larry Levis, (pictured, left) a major American poet who taught at VCU at the end of his life. 

The English Department's celebrated poets include Kathleen Graber, a National Book Award finalist whose many awards include the Library of Virginia's Literary Award for Poetry, and Wojahn, a Pulitzer Prize finalist, three-time winner of the Pushcart Prize and recipient of the Carole Weinstein Prize in Poetry.

Student and alumni poets also have earned accolades for their works.

In 2006, the online literature and arts journal Blackbird -- already a national presence among literary and poetry magazines -- scored a coup when it featured a previously unpublished poem by the late Pulitzer Prize-winning poet Sylvia Plath. That same year, VCU MFA alumni Elizabeth Seydel "Buffy" Morgan and Ron Smith were named co-winners of the first Carole Weinstein poetry prize, which rewards $10,000 to a Central Virginia poet annually for his or her contribution to the art of poetry. Smith and Morgan then became curators for the prize.

Other recent alumni honorees include Catherine MacDonald, (pictured, right), who won the 2012 Miller Williams Arkansas Poetry Prize, and Anna Journey and Allison Titus, who each won NEA Literature Fellowships.

Why the university has devoted so much attention to poetry is simple, Wojahn said: "I think it's a force that may not help people to live their lives in a better way, but it certainly helps them to endure their lives a little bit better. When you read a poem that you're moved by, impressed by, compelled by, you feel like the author of the poem is speaking only to you and no one else.

"As a poet myself, I feel very lucky to be in a place where I practice a discipline that's appreciated. And I think not every academician -- even in a school that has a thriving creative writing program -- would be able to say that, but I feel no reluctance in saying that about VCU."

Is your scholarly research only for those wealthy enough to afford the journal you publish in?  How many in your local community can access your research published in expensive online journals? How many in your professional community without well-funded library access can read your work? How about your school's alumni?  Would you rather have your work freely accessible to all without charge, while still published in a peer-reviewed, scholarly journal?

On Friday, March 30, from 3 to 4 p.m. VCU Libraries presents a workshop for faculty (but open to all) entitled "Open Access Scholarly Publishing for Faculty."

The workshop will be conducted by Dan Ream, VCU librarian and past president of the VCU Faculty Senate.

As journal subscription costs have increased dramatically, fewer and fewer libraries can afford every journal that is needed, including some that are considered prestigious and essential. Faculty worldwide, especially in the sciences, but also increasingly in the social sciences and humanities, have responded by creating and publishing their research in open access, peer-reviewed journals that charge no fee to their readers.

Faculty senates from Harvard to Berkeley to the University of Virginia have endorsed open access publishing for their faculty.

This one-hour session will introduce faculty to this revolution in publishing of open access, peer-reviewed journals and demonstrate how to locate them in almost any discipline, as well as discuss the potential benefits of worldwide free access to faculty research. Options for faculty retention of copyright will also be discussed.

This workshop will be held in library classroom/lab 319 on the third floor of James Branch Cabell Library. No advance registration is necessary. Address questions to Dan Ream, or call 828-6545 for more information.

VCU Libraries will expand its around-the-clock service at James Branch Cabell Library on the Monroe Park campus March 18.

For some five years during semester-end, high-need periods, Cabell Library has expanded service hours from Sunday morning to Friday evening to better serve students.

Adding more hours of service has been the student body's No. 1 request for years.

The Office of the Provost is funding the pilot program, beginning this semester and continuing during the 2012-13 academic year to assess actual demand during these longer hours. Whether the program continues beyond the first year will depend on how it's used by students.

Cabell Library will launch the new service hours immediately after spring break: March 18. Cabell will operate without closing from 10 a.m. Sunday to 10 p.m. Friday. The library will be open 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. on Saturdays. During the summer, the hours of operation may be reduced to match the lower student enrollment during the summer months.

VCU Libraries has been named a Center of Excellence for the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, as designated by The Association of Southeastern Research Libraries.

ASERL, which has some 40 members, represents the region's top research institutions. These members of the largest regional research library consortium in the United States work together to provide and maintain top quality resources and services for the students, faculty and citizens of their communities.

The new Center of Excellence program focuses on government materials. Wise stewardship of resources and greater access to government documents in the Southeast are the program's goals. Center of Excellence status carries with it the role of becoming a "regional expert" for that agency or subject matter. Expertise includes gathering a collection that is as complete  as possible, creating access to that collection and providing service to the collection by professional staff. Expertise is also maintained through the sharing of information among partner institutions and astute professional management of the collection.

Overseeing the Homeland Security Collection at VCU is Mary Ellen Spencer, head librarian for research and instructional services at VCU Libraries' James Branch Cabell Library. An assistant professor, she has deep experience in managing government and public documents and collections in the social sciences.

"The Bush administration formed the U.S. Department of Homeland Security in 2002 in the wake of the 9/11 attacks," Spencer said. "VCU Libraries receives all government publications associated with the agency, most of them born digital. At present, the collection includes over 3,400 titles, including The 9/11 Commission Report:."

VCU Libraries was selected to focus on the U.S. Department of Homeland Security materials because of its strong academic programs in homeland security, emergency preparedness and public health.  

• The L. Douglas Wilder School of Government and Public Affairs offers a bachelor's of arts degree in homeland security and emergency preparedness. After introducing the B.A. in 2005, the school added a graduate certificate program and a master's program in 2007.
• The Department of Epidemiology and Community Health offers two tracks in its master of public health program, one focusing on public health practice and one focusing on epidemiology. Graduates are prepared to work on multi-disciplinary teams in government agencies at the state, federal and international levels or in service arms of private sectors.
• The Wilder School also houses the National Homeland Security Project, which researches policy and management related to security and preparedness, including assessing Virginia programs.   
• VCU is also uniquely situated geographically--in the military and intelligence crescent from the CIA in Langley to Arlington's Pentagon to Newport News' shipbuilding operations to Virginia Beach's massive naval installations. Located in the state capital, in a city that houses the Fifth District Federal Reserve and located just 100 miles south of Washington, VCU's central location offers students and faculty easy access to homeland security institutions and professionals.

ASERL's Centers of Excellence program is funded in part by a grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services. For more information, please contact Mary Ellen Spencer at mespencer@vcu.edu.

Librarian Donna E. Coghill, an advocate for diversity initiatives in the university and Richmond communities, is a 2012 recipient of the Burnside Watstein LGBT Award. 

The award is given annually by the LGBT Subcommitee of VCU's Equity and Diversity Committee to one or more individuals who enrich the community at VCU and make a significant difference in the lives of LGBT faculty, staff and students. In addition to Coghill, graduate student Morgan Krug and Dorothy Fillmore, associate director of academic operations for the department of psychology, also will be honored at a public ceremony March 29 at 3:30 p.m. at the Scott House, 909 W. Franklin St.

"In recognizing Donna, the committee has chosen one of VCU's most energetic, dedicated, and creative supporters of the LGBT community," said University Librarian John E. Ulmschneider in his announcement of Coghill's honor to VCU Libraries staff and faculty.

He wrote: "Donna long has been an inspired voice for equality and diversity at VCU, and has been unstinting of her time and energy in her work on a broad range of activities in support of the LGBT community. She has been a long-term member of the Provost's Equity and Diversity Committee and its LGBT Subcommittee, serving as its first secretary and also as co-chair. Her focused and principled work ethic has been a driving engine for many of the subcommittee's initiatives and accomplishments, from the ice cream socials and the Safe Zone Training Program to Pridefest and more. Her exceptional interpersonal skills have brought together scores of students, faculty, and staff to support the LGBT community in myriad ways, all the while with a freshness of spirit and engagement that has inspired even more members of the VCU and broader community to lend their support."

As VCU Libraries' First Year Student Programs Librarian, Coghill has broad responsibilities for helping new students learn research practices and making them feel welcome and confident in library and class settings. She teaches library classes and works closely with projects that orient and support new students.

As a double alumna, she has close ties to VCU. She holds a B.F.A. in theater and a M.F.A. in directing. She has served in varied positions at VCU Libraries. Previously, she worked in arts education. She is active in Richmond theater. 

This honor for Coghill has special cachet for VCU Libraries. The award was named in part for Sarah Barbara Watstein, who is the University Librarian at the University of North Carolina at Wilmington. Previously, she was Associate University Librarian at VCU. The award is also named for Chris Burnside, choreographer, performer and a former dance professor. Burnside worked with Special Collections and Archives at Cabell Library to deposit an exceptional collection of videos, papers and other materials documenting his influential work in dance.

Said Ulmschneider: "Together, Chris and Sarah earned the lasting esteem and respect of their colleagues throughout the university in their steadfast pursuit of fairness and equity for all members of the VCU community. The distinguished heritage of the Burnside Watstein Award makes this recognition of our library colleague especially meaningful for all of us in the VCU Libraries."

Coghill's cv
Event Facebook page

Laura W. Gariepy is the new Assistant Head of Instructional Services at James Branch Cabell Library.

In her new position, she will lead efforts to create an integrated program that teaches research skills to undergraduates and graduate students, promotes information literacy and enhances the student experience at VCU. Gariepy will supervise a team of five to lead the design, delivery and assessment of teaching activities. Within the library, the research and instructional services division creates educational experiences, coaches individuals working on specific projects, advises students on research methods and best practices and answers thousands of questions each year.

During the last fiscal year, librarians working in this division on the Monroe Park campus managed thousands of one-on-one, face-to-face sessions with patrons. These included some 530 individual consultations for in-depth research coaching, 300 attendees at walk-in research and writing clinics and nearly 4,000 phone or email inquiries. Librarians conducted 607 classroom sessions attended by more than 23,000 students.

Gariepy brings a foundation of experience and academic preparation to her new role. As undergraduate student programs librarian since 2009, she has been in the forefront of efforts by the VCU Libraries to strengthen its engagement with undergraduate teaching and improve the student experience at VCU. 

Prior to her arrival at VCU, she was a graduate assistant at House Undergraduate Library at The University of North Carolina-Chapel HIll and a reference assistant in Davis Library at UNC-Chapel Hill. She worked as an intern for two years at the  Environmental Protection Agency Library in the Research Triangle Park, N.C. 

She holds a B.A. in sociology from Appalachian State University and the M.S. in library science from UNC-Chapel Hill.  

 

Expressions of the science of art made to inform and the art of scientific illustration are on view March 8 through September 28 at Tompkins-McCaw Library for the Health Sciences at Virginia Commonwealth University.

INTERSECTIONS: ART AND SCIENCE. is curated by James Miller, chair of VCU's Department of Communication Arts, and organized by VCU Libraries' health sciences library on the MVC campus. Event Web site

The exhibition includes human anatomy: structural, muscular and anatomical drawings of the figure. Images in various media and digital technologies include plants, animals, insects, microorganisms, surgical procedures and animations.

"These artists' objective is to observe, draw, describe and reveal the majesty and wonder of our subject matter with the insight and vision of an artist and the acuity of a scientist," says curator Miller.

Works are by students, alumni and faculty of the Scientific and Preparatory Medical emphasis area. In 2006, the Department of Communication Arts created this academic focus area to prepare students for careers as scientific illustrators and for advanced study in the field of medical illustration.

Fitting for a university with both world class arts and medical schools, the VCU program is among a few in the nation. Students gain the skills and knowledge to produce images that present complex scientific and/or medical information for the purpose of explaining and understanding scientific, technical ideas, concepts, principles and facts.

"Students develop the ability to accurately interpret and portray the real and the abstract, fact and conjecture with either extreme precision or interpretive expression as required by the content," says Miller. "Observation and critical thinking are key to being a scientific or medical illustrator."

Participating artists are:

Students:

• Austin Anderson: "Insect Study," watercolor on paper
• Grace Huddleston: "Arm Study," graphite on paper
• Emily Bradfield: "Bone Study 1," and "Bone Study 2," graphite on paper
• Caitlin Johnston: "Artichoke," digital print
• Mary Carter: "Insect Study," watercolor on paper, "Phalaenopsis Orchid," digital print, "Feather Study," watercolor on paper, "Observatory," acrylic on panel, and "Chicken Heart Study," acrylic on panel
• Lucy Koo: "Figure Study," graphite on paper
• Jessica Foley: "Squid Dissection," watercolor on paper
• Lori Panico: "Cicada Study," watercolor on paper
• Juliana Phung: "Female Figure," graphite on paper.

Alumni:

• Anastasia Demson: "Portrait of a Hand II," graphite on paper, and "Performing an Emergency Cricothyrotomy," digital print
• Lauren Conroy: Animations entitled "Revolving Skulls and Endocasts," and "Bacteria World"
• Don Di Fiore: "Fish Head Study," watercolor on paper, and "Mouse," ink and watercolor Vinh Chau: "Open Clam," watercolor on paper, "Pompano Dissection," ink and watercolor on paper, "Hawk," ink and watercolor on paper, "Vulture," ink and watercolor on paper, and "Cricket," Prisma markers and graphite on paper
• Suzanne Ghuzzi: "Pedicle Graft," digital print, "Fontanelles: A Guide to an Infant's Soft Spot," digital print, "A Closer Look at Foliculogenesis," digital print, "Acute Otitis Media," digital print, "Chelydra serpentina: The Common Snapping Turtle," digital print, "Culex pipiens: The West Nile Virus Vector," digital print.

Adjunct faculty member:

•  Sarah Faris: "Laparoscopically Assisted Right Hemicolectomy," graphite and digital media, "Hands," graphite on paper, "LBWC," digital print, "Hip Bone," carbon dust on paper, "Muscles of the Pharynix," digital print, "Malaria," digital print, "Lumbar Surgery," digital print.

"Their illustrations suggest the beauty in the complexity of science and medicine," says Tompkins-McCaw Director Teresa L. Knott. "My aspiration for the attendees is that they come away with an appreciation of the amazing talent of those affiliated with this unique arts program and a broader vision of medical and scientific illustration and how it might be used. I believe that the exhibit will stimulate conversations and cooperation between the Monroe Park and MCV campuses."

Medical illustration is far more than art just for art's sake. Graduates are in demand for scientific, medical and biomedical visualization artwork in teaching, in digital and textbook illustration, as well as in patient and consumer health education. Artists with this specialty are hired for medical legal illustration, pharmaceutical advertising, web design, medical iPhone/iPad applications, to name a few. New digital imaging technologies and 3D interactive applications enable the scientific and medical and biomedical visualization illustrator to animate and employ movement and sequential imaging. These advanced technologies make possible imagery and special visual effects that are changing, expanding, and enriching the possibilities of the discipline and the way we learn and teach medical and scientific concepts.

The public is invited to attend an opening reception on Thursday, March 8, from 4:30 to 6 p.m. RSVP for the reception at www.support.vdu.edu/event/intersections. If special accommodations are needed, please contact Thelma Mack at (804) 828-0017 or mackta@vcu.edu. The exhibition will continue through September 28, 2012. The Tompkins-McCaw Library Gallery is at 509 North 12th St. on the MCV Campus. It is open to the public during regular library hours. 

James Branch Cabell Library will open at 10:30 a.m. Monday, March 12.

The delayed opening will be due to the annual testing of the emergency generator. The test requires all electrical power to be cut.

Monday is the first weekday of spring break and the test is scheduled at this time to have minimal effect on the work of faculty and students.

Jennifer Roach is VCU Libraries' new Research Librarian for the Sciences and Engineering.

Roach will work closely with faculty colleagues in VCU Life Sciences, the School of Engineering and appropriate departments in the College of Humanities and Sciences to meet teaching and research needs of faculty and students in areas related to engineering and the sciences. She will teach research and information skills tailored to those disciplines, create online teaching and learning tools for developing information competency. In addition, she will develop and extend research consultation services, including appointment-based, discipline-specific research guidance. Roach also will help develop the print and digital reference collections supporting the sciences and engineering and will work closely with colleagues at Tompkins-McCaw Library for the Health Sciences to meet the needs of faculty and students in VCU Life Sciences and related areas.

To her new role, she brings a strong background in teaching, research and discipline-appropriate education and practice. As an undergraduate services specialist and learning technologies specialist at VCU since 2007, she has well-grounded experience in consulting with and teaching faculty and students in sciences and engineering.

Before arriving in Richmond, she oversaw the Learning Resource Center at Tennessee Technological University with its five satellite libraries and she worked as an aerospace engineer at the Goddard Space Flight Center, providing engineering support for scientific satellite design and development. 

Roach holds the B.S. in aerospace engineering from Virginia Tech, the M.A. in curriculum and instruction from Tennessee Technological University, and the M.S. in library and information studies from Florida State University.

Roach's CV

The VCU Friends of the Libraries and the VCU Department of English present a reading by Pulitzer Prize-winning poet Yusef
Komunyakaa on March 22 at 7 p.m. at the W.E. Singleton Center for the Performing Arts.   

Komunyakaa is the author of many books, including his collected works, "Pleasure Dome" (2001, Wesleyan University Press), and his latest, "The Chameleon Couch" (2011, Farrar, Straus and Giroux). He received the Pulitzer Prize in Poetry and the Kingsley Tufts Poetry Award for "Neon Vernacular" (1993, Wesleyan University Press), his selected works. In 2011, he received the Wallace Stevens Award from the Academy of American Poets. He is currently Distinguished Senior Poet in the creative writing program at New York University.

Komunyakaa's often autobiographical poems draw from diverse experiences and interests: the civil rights movement, classical literature, the Vietnam War, class struggle and jazz. He received a Bronze Star for his service as a war correspondent in Southeast Asia. His book "Dien Cai Dau" (1988, Wesleyan University Press) is lauded as some of the finest writing about the Vietnam War and its times. His poems about black America and music are celebrated as both masterpieces of verse and vital cultural documents. "The task of the poet," he says, "is to pose serious questions that can make us more human."

Books will be available for purchase at the event, and a public reception and book signing will be held immediately following the reading. Doors open at 6:30 p.m. The event is free and open to all, but because seating is limited, registration is required. For special accommodations or to register offline, please contact Gregory Kimbrell at (804) 828-0593 or kimbrellgg@vcu.edu.