Renowned Poets Bring Powerful Stories to Campus Oct. 20

Published: 10/19/2020

East St. Louis Poet Laureate Eugene Redmond and his daughter Dr. Treasure Shields Redmond will present From Black Power to Black Lives Matter virtually from 11:30 – 12:45 p.m. on Tuesday, Oct. 20 at SCC.

Eugene Redmond, emeritus professor of English at Southern Illinois University Edwardsville, was named Poet Laureate of East St. Louis in 1976, the year Doubleday released his critical history, Drumvoices: The Mission of Afro-American Poetry.

Redmond was a professor of English and poet-in-residence at California State University-Sacramento from 1970-85, when he won a National Endowment for the Arts Creative Writing Fellowship and a Pushcart Prize. He is also a winner of two American Book Awards. 

Dr. Treasure Shields Redmond is a St. Louis metro-based poet, performer, and educator. She has been featured at the Nuyorican Poets Café and has been published in many notable poetry anthologies. Treasure received a fellowship to the Fine Arts Works Center, and her poem, "around the time of medgar" was nominated for a 2011 Pushcart Prize. 

She also helped found the Fannie Lou Hamer House. Named after civil rights activist Fannie Lou Hamer, the space provides retreat and an affordable short-term, creative stay space for artists and organizers as well as general visitors to the East St. Louis.

Together, the father-daughter duo host a podcast called The Memoir My Father Wouldn’t Write. Dr. Shields Redmond also hosts a culture walk about the rich history of East. St. Louis.

The presentation will be facilitated by history instructor Grace Moser and will be live streamed on the SCC website.