Catherine Bowman was born in El Paso, Texas. She received an MFA from Columbia University and is the author of five poetry collections, including “Can I Finish, Please” (2016). Bowman has received fellowships from the Dobie Paisano Fellowship Program and the New York Foundation for the Arts, among others. Her poems have appeared in many literary journals, including “The Paris Review,” “River Styx,” “Ploughshares” and others. Her work has also been published in several anthologies, and she is the editor of “Word of Mouth: Poems Featured on NPR’s All Things Considered” (2003), an anthology of poems she presented while serving as the “poetry DJ” on “All Things Considered.” She currently is the Ruth Lilly Professor of Poetry at Indiana University and lives in Bloomington, Indiana.

Treasure Shields Redmond is a St. Louis metro-based poet, speaker, diversity and inclusion coach, and social justice educator. Her book “chop: a collection of kwansabas for fannie lou hamer” (2015) focuses on the life of civil rights activist Fannie Lou Hamer. Over her career, Treasure has facilitated dialogues about poetry, pedagogy, and justice. Combining her gifts with her passion, Treasure is able to lead strategic plan writing and facilitate beginning dialogues about race, gender, class, and ability. Presently, Treasure divides her time between being an assistant professor of English at Southwestern Illinois College and doctoral studies at Indiana University of Pennsylvania.

This event is presented by the St. Louis Poetry Center; a $5 donation is suggested at the door. For more information, visit stlouispoetrycenter.org.