ECC Writers Center to welcome poet

Submitted by ECC

Afaa Michael Weaver, a Boston-based poet and writer, will be the next guest of Elgin Community College’s 2012-2013 Writers Center Reading Series on Thursday, March 21. The free event starts at 7:30 p.m. in the ECC Arts Center, Building H, Room H142, 1700 Spartan Drive, Elgin.

A native of Baltimore, Afaa Michael Weaver (born Michael S. Weaver) has been a Pew fellow, a Fulbright scholar in Taiwan, and an NEA fellow in poetry. His first book of poetry Water Song, was published in 1985, and he has had plays produced professionally and worked as an editor and freelance journalist.

His short fiction is included in the anthology “Children of the Night.” His prizes include a Pushcart, the PDI Award in playwriting from ETA Theatre in Chicago, and the May Sarton Award. His 11th collection of poems is “Kama i’reeh (Like the Wind),” a translation of his work into Arabic by Wissal Al-Allaq.

Weaver works as an editor and a translator, principally in Chinese. He maintains a translation website called Poets Café. A major interview with Weaver was published in the Summer 2011 issue of Contemporary Literature and he released his 12th collection of poetry, “The Government of Nature,” in March.

A pre-reading dinner with Weaver will be held at 5:30 p.m. For reservations, contact Rachael Tecza at rtecza@elgin.edu or (847) 214-7578. Copies of Weaver’s work also will be available for sale and signing at the event.