University of Michigan Press Celebrates Elizabeth Alexander

New site dedicated to the acclaimed poet and UM Press author, who will read at the Presidential Inauguration on January 20

The University of Michigan Press announced this week that it is celebrating the selection of poet Elizabeth Alexander to read at the Presidential Inauguration with a special Web site commemorating her work. “Power & Possibility,” her volume of essays, reviews and interviews on poetry -- which covers the role of poetry in politics -- will also be sold at a special inaugural discount.

"The University of Michigan Press is immensely proud that the incoming President of the United States, Barack Obama, has chosen Elizabeth Alexander, author of and contributor to two books that we publish, for the honor of reading an original poem at his inauguration," UM Press Director Phil Pochoda said. "Though her exceptional talent and insight have long been obvious to us, we are gratified that Professor Alexander has been singled out in this historic manner."

Alexander is just the fourth poet in the history of this country to be chosen to read at a presidential inauguration. She will join the ranks of such luminaries as Robert Frost and Maya Angelou when she steps up to read her new poem on January 20.

The new UM Press site dedicated to Alexander, located at www.press.umich.edu/alexander, features an extensive biography, quotes from her peers about her historic selection, new excerpts from her work (including an essay on poetry and politics) and details about her books.

"We want to salute Greywolf Press, which has been Professor Alexander’s primary poetry publisher. But her involvement with the University of Michigan Press stems from two long-standing publishing efforts of which this Press is also very proud," Pochoda said. "Professor Alexander’s imaginative and passionate book of essays on poets, politics and poetry, entitled ‘Power & Possibility,’ was published in our legendary Poets and Poetry Series, now some 31 years old with 95 books to its credit, dedicated to the critical essays of many of the major poets of the United States through this period.

"This press has also been one of the leading publishers in recent years of works of and about the writers associated with the Black Arts movement of the 1960s and 70s. When the Cave Canem group, formed in the 1990s to foster the work of African-American poets, was searching for a publisher for its 10th anniversary poetry anthology ‘Gathering Ground,’ for which Professor Alexander contributed both a poem and an introduction, we were, therefore, a natural fit.

"We feel fortunate and privileged to have published Elizabeth Alexander in these two distinguished venues."

Alexander’s peers rave about her work on the new site, declaring her ultimately deserving of such a great honor.

"President-Elect Obama has made a wise choice in Elizabeth Alexander, a poet of exceptional eloquence, depth, and grace," said Maurice Berger, senior research scholar at the Center for Art, Design and Visual Culture at the University of Maryland Baltimore County. "In the tradition of James Baldwin, Susan Sontag, and Toni Morrison, she is equally adept as literary writer, social observer, and cultural critic. Her inaugural poem will no doubt inspire our nation in this troubled and extraordinary time."

"With her considerable poetic skills and her complex vision of American history and culture, Elizabeth Alexander is an inspired choice to play such a prominent role in the presidential inauguration," said Arnold Rampersad, professor emeritus at Stanford University.