printable versionPoet Sekou Sundiata brings world premiere to campus
Undergraduate Sophia Tu, left, laughs during a writing class taught by poet Sekou Sundiata.
Poet Sekou Sundiata will return to campus this week to present the world premiere of the 51st (dream) state, a multimedia exploration of America's post-9/11 national identity. Sundiata worked with students to develop the work last year during a residency sponsored by the Institute for Diversity in the Arts (IDA) and the Committee for Black Performing Arts (CBPA).
Sundiata will perform the 51st (dream) state with a 10-member ensemble of singers and musicians in performances tonight and Thursday night at 8 p.m. in Pigott Theater. Drama Professor Harry Elam, the Olive H. Palmer Professor in Humanities and the director of IDA and CBPA, will moderate a discussion following this evening's performance. Tickets are $38 for adults and $19 for Stanford students. Tickets can be purchased through Stanford Lively Arts, which co-commissioned the 51st dream state, and the Stanford Ticket Office at 725-2787.
Sundiata also will speak today in the What Matters to Me and Why series in the side chapel of Memorial Church from noon to 1 p.m. The lecture series is sponsored by the Office for Religious Life.
On Friday at noon, Sundiata will present a lecture, "African American Art: Artists, Patrons and Critics," at Hartley Conference Center in the Mitchell Earth Sciences Building as part of the African and African American Studies Program Lecture Series.