May 28, 2014
Media Availability – Allison Joseph
Allison Joseph, an associate professor of creative writing and co-director of the master of fine arts creative writing program at Southern Illinois University Carbondale, is available today (May 28) to discuss Maya Angelou’s impact on creative writing and poetry.
Angelou, who spoke at SIU Carbondale in May 2007, died today at 86. She was a renowned poet, novelist, educator, actress and civil rights activist.
To arrange for interviews, email Joseph at aljoseph@siu.edu or contact her at 618/203-6453.
Joseph, who is in her 20th year at SIU, recently received the Paladin Award from the literary journal “Rhino Poetry” for her “extraordinary long-term contribution to poetry in Illinois.” Among her numerous activities, Joseph is founder of SIU’s Young Writers Workshop summer camp and poetry editor of the “Crab Orchard Review.”
Joseph’s awards from previous years include the George Garrett Award for Outstanding Community Service in Literature and the Aquarius Press Legacy Award. Her poetry collections include, most recently, “My Father’s Kites,” and also “Worldly Pleasures,” “Imitation of Life,” “In Every Seam,” “Soul Train,” and “What Keeps Us Here.”