BOOKS and AUTHORS | Speechwriter, poet, author

On Friday, April 3, at 7 p.m., poet, speechwriter and author Jericho Brown will present the keynote speech at the UIS Student Technology Arts and Research Symposium (STARS), at UIS Brookens Library. Brown grew up in Shreveport, Louisiana, and worked as the speechwriter for the mayor of New Orleans before pursing a Ph.D. in creative writing and literature from the University of Houston. He is the author of two books of poetry, and his work has appeared in numerous publications and volumes including The American Poetry Review, The New Yorker, Oxford American, The Best American Poetry and more. His first book, Please, won the American Book Award in 2009. Brown has also received numerous other awards and fellowships, including the Whiting Writers Award in 2009. For more information on Jericho Brown and the Student Technology Arts and Research Symposium at University of Illinois Springfield, visit http:/uis.edu/undergraduateresearch/stars.