Michael Harper, called "one of the dominant poetic voices of his generation," will read from poetry spanning a career of three decades.

REUBEN, REUBEN

I reach from pain
to music great enough
to bring me back,
swollenhead, madness,
lovefruit, a pickle of hate
so sour my mouth twicked
up and would not sing;
there's nothing in the beat
to hold it in
melody and turn human skin;
a brown berry gone
to rot just two days on the branch;
we've lost a son,
the music, jazz, comes in.

From Dear John, Dear Coltrane (UI Press, reprint 1985)

Cosponsored by: Office of the Chancellor, Office of the Provost and Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs, Office of the Vice Chancellor for Research and the Graduate College, Office of the Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs, The Council of Deans, The Center for Advanced Study, George A. Miller Endowment, George A. Miller Committee, Peggy Harris Memorial Fund, School of Music, Department of English, Department of History, Afro-American Studies and Research Program, LAS/Humanities Council, Program for the Study of Cultural Values and Ethics, Robert J. Carr Visiting Writers Fund, University of Illinois Press