Did You Know… that Penn alumna Elizabeth Alexander, G’92, has been chosen by the inaugural committee to deliver a poem at the inauguration of Barack Obama? Alexander is currently a professor of African American Studies at Yale University. She will be the fourth poet to speak at an inauguration – the first was Robert Frost at John F. Kennedy’s inauguration in 1961. President Clinton asked Maya Angelou and Miller Williams to speak at his inaugurations in 1993 and 1997 respectively.

"Her selection really affirms our generation of American poets in ways that will resonate for a long time to come," says Herman Beavers, an associate professor of English at the University of Pennsylvania, fellow poet, and longtime friend.

For more information on her selection, read the article in the Philadelphia Inquirer:

http://www.philly.com/philly/news/homepage/36556649.html

To hear Alexander’s reading at the Kelly Writer’s House in 2004, visit: