The 2009 Spring Literary Series and City Bookfair welcomed the Spring Semester on March 5 with Douglas Kearney, an L.A.-based poet, performer, teacher, and recipient of the Whiting Writers’ Award for emerging authors.

Kearney read his newest and some of his oldest work to an audience of over 100 students in the Faculty dining room. D.J. Watson was on hand to introduce this talent phenom, and as he began his works, it was clear to see that this artist took the time to fill the room.

He has written and performed for audio recordings and television, and has been a featured performer in such venues as the New York Public Theater, Minneapolis’ Orpheum, and L.A.’s World Stage. With his vocal and dramatic range, he created a performance with his street-music style that did just a little more than catch our attention. He gave us lessons in life.

Kearney received an MFA from CalArts, where he teaches African American Studies/Poetics. In 2007, the Poet Society of America named him a notable New American Poet.

Kearney’s poetry has appeared in various journals, including Callaloo, Gulf Coast, Nocturnes and Jubilat. Kearney also appears in anthologies, including Bum Rush the Page, Role Call, Dark Matter: Reading the Bones and the upcoming Saints of Hysteria.