Logo courtesy the Jackson Madison County Library
The Friends of the Jackson-Madison County are hosting a special program this Saturday, October 23. Join them to listen to poet Kika Dorsey from Colorado speak in this event co-hosted by James Cherry of the Griot Collective. Dorsey will do a special presentation from 1:00-2:30 pm.
Dorsey is a poet, educator, writing coach, ghostwriter, and tutor in Boulder, Colorado. While finishing her Ph.D. in Comparative Literature in Seattle, Washington, she performed her poetry with musicians and artists and wrote about German and Italian modern and postmodern writers. In recent years she has also begun to write and publish fiction and ghostwrite fiction and nonfiction books and articles. Her poems have been published in The Denver Quarterly, KYSO Flash, The Comstock Review, Narrative Northeast, The Columbia Review, among numerous other journals and books. She is the author of four poetry collections, Beside Herself (Flutter Press, 2010), Rust, Coming Up for Air (Word Tech Editions, 2016, 2018), and Occupied: Vienna is a Broken Man and Daughter of Hunger (Pinyon Publishing, 2020). She teaches as an adjunct instructor of English at Front Range Community College and has tutored in their writing center since 2008. In addition, she is a contributing editor of MacQueen’s Quinterly and the advising poetry editor of Plains Paradox.
President of the Friends of the Library Board, Ann Van der Linde, is looking forward to the program, describing Dorsey as a “wonderful poet”. She hopes many will join in, whether in person or via Zoom. Email dharris@madisoncountytn.gov for the Zoom meeting link.
This timely event falls within National Friends of Libraries Week. National Friends of Libraries Week is coordinated by United for Libraries, a division of the American Library Association with approximately 4,000 personal and group members representing hundreds of thousands of library supporters. United for Libraries supports those who govern, promote, advocate, and fundraise for libraries, and brings together library trustees, advocates, friends, and foundations into a partnership that creates a powerful force for libraries in the 21st century. For more information, visit www.ala.org/united.
The mission of the Friends is to foster closer relations between the Jackson-Madison County Library and the citizens of Jackson and Madison County and environs; to promote knowledge, the functions, resources, services, and needs of the Library; to lead in the development of a program for the extension and improvement of the library services and resources; and to aid in the provision of adequate housing and other facilities for the Library. “We have a 12 member board that needs new members every year, so consider serving on the board to further our goals,” shares Ms. Van der Line. “Our memberships and our Continuing Book Sale year round in the hallway of the Main Library, are the sources for most of our funding, supplemented by the occasional grant and support from media friends. We use our funds to foster the Summer Reading Program for All Ages, to bring authors to Jackson, and to have local members share books of significance with you. This year we need volunteers as we do every year to bring refreshments, to help with Continuing Book Sale, and to serve on Committees and the Board. We are looking for ways to reach out and let you know about us and our work. Please join us by asking for a membership card and mailing it to us with your membership. The cards are available at the desks at the Main Library and North Branch locations.”
The Jackson-Madison County Library is located at 433 E. Lafayette St. in downtown. For more information, contact the Library at 731-425-8600, visit the Library’s Facebook page at Facebook.com/JMCLibrary or its website at www.jmclibrary.org.