Meditative Poetry Reading with Les James

Join us on the evening of April 17th in the salon at the Peter Bullough Foundation for a meditative reading with poet-in-residence Les James. James will share a selection of her published and forthcoming work, along with works in progress, through which the audience will be invited to reflect upon creative themes connecting nature, science, theopoetics, and social justice. Guests will have a chance to speak with the author before and following the reading. Light refreshments will be served. This event is sponsored in part by the Marion Park Lewis Foundation for the Arts and First Bank. This event is free, but RSVP-ing in advance is appreciated!

About the Poet

Les James is a writer and artist, originally from the Chicago metro area and currently based in central Virginia. Integrating an academic background in biology, learning sciences, and organizational psychology with eco-theopoetics, her work explores scientifically-inspired and spiritually-informed ideas about nature, consciousness, and social activism. Her poetry has appeared or is forthcoming in several anthologies and online journals, including: When We Exhale: An Anthology of Black Women Rooted In Ancestral Medicine; The Future of Black: Afrofuturism, Black Comics, and Superhero Poetry anthology; BLUU Notes: An Anthology of Love, Justice, and Liberation;  Gumbo Magazine; The Black Liberation Blueprint digital toolkit; Edge Effects magazine; Michigan Quarterly Review Online; and elsewhere. Her artwork has been included in EcoTheo Review, Geez magazine, juried group art shows in Iowa and Virginia, and elsewhere. She has been awarded scholarships, residencies, and funding by the Diverse Intelligences Summer Institute, the Peter Bullough Foundation, Foundation House, the Collegeville Institute, the Kenyon Institute, and the James River Writers conference. She is an alumna of the Hurston/Wright Foundation Summer Writers Week - Poetry Workshop.