Originally from Detroit, Mich., Lawrence Joseph is an internationally praised poet, whose books of poems include the award-winning “Shouting at No One” (1983) and most recently, “Into It” (2005).
Joseph’s grandparents were among the first Arab-Americans to emigrate to Detroit, and he has lectured on poetry in Jordan, Israel and Egypt.
“In the house in Detroit/ in a room of shadows/ when grandma reads her Arabic newspaper/ it is difficult for me to follow her/ word by word from right to left…Lebanon of my mother/ warning my father not to let/ the children hear/ of my brother who hears/ and from whose silence/ I know there is something/ I will never know,” he writes in his poem, “Sand Nigger.”
A law professor at St. John’s University, Joseph has also served as a directing member of Poets House, Poetry Society of America, and The Writer’s Voice. He will read on campus at Alder Building, Room 111 on Friday, from 3 to 4:30 p.m.
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