Toi Derricotte was born in Hamtramck, Michigan, in 1941. Her books of poetry are Tender (1997), winner of the 1998 Paterson Poetry Prize; Captivity (1989); Natural Birth (1983); and The Empress of the Death House (1978).  Her The Black Notebooks, a literary memoir  (W.W. Norton, 1997), won the 1998 Anisfield-Wolf Book Award for Non-Fiction and was a New York Times Notable Book of the Year. Her essay, “Beginning Dialogues,” is included in The Best American Essays 2006, edited by Lauren Slater. Of her poems, Audre Lourde wrote, “Because the power of her images breeds visions which are neither easy nor inescapable, Toi Dericotte moves us…The pain does not exceed the power.”

Her honors include the Lucille Medwick Memorial Award from the Poetry Society of America; two Pushcart Prizes; the Distinguished Pioneering of the Arts Award from the United Black Artists; the Alumni/Alumnae Award from New York University; the Barnes & Noble Writers for Writers Award from Poets & Writers, Inc.; the Elizabeth Kray Award for service to the field of poetry from Poets House; and fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts, the New Jersey State Council on the Arts, the Rockefeller Foundation, the Guggenheim Foundation and the Maryland State Arts Council.

With Cornelius Eady, in 1996, she co-founded Cave Canem Foundation, North America’s premier “home for black poetry” – http://www.cavecanempoets.org/.  She is a Professor of English at the University of Pittsburgh.

The blog will now feature weekly posts from students that aim to detail certain aspects of their experiences here at the Aegean Center. Our first post, below, comes from Melissa Henry and offers a peek inside her painting studio.

We will also be posting pictures from our Friday hikes. This week, enjoy two posts, below, of our jaunt through the mountains of Lefkes and our journey to Archilochos’s cave.

Next week, check back for pictures from our celebrated boat trip, as well as another student post.

13 September 2008
Canterbury, England

A collaboration between Poet, Peter Abbs and Artist, John Pack

Aegean Center director John Pack’s most recent exhibition will open at the Sidney Cooper Gallery, Canterbury, England as part of the multidisciplinary symposium “DIMENSIONS OF PILGRIMAGE: Journey, Meaning and Place” taking place at Canterbury Christ Church University. The exhibition will be in Canterbury for five weeks before touring.

The formal debut of the publication “The Greater Journey: a special artist edition” will take place the evening of the opening along with a reading by Peter Abbs of his poetry that is part of the publication.

Thank you Brianna Privett (‘06) and Illustration Friday!

The picture above was taken by a student in 1980, of Nick Loucas (painting teacher), Gail Wetzel (Brett Taylor’s wife), Gretchen Kiener (student), Elizabeth Carson (photography teacher), Jeffrey Carson (creative writing teacher), and Brett Taylor (director).

Hello World!

It is now up.

www.aegeancenter.wordpress.com