As if one needed any more compelling reasons to jump into the swirling artistic cauldron that will be Big Ears 2022 in March, the festival is announcing an added layer of literary connections to its already jam-packed, multidimensional lineup of music and performances. Festival attendees will be able to take-in the work of six noted multi-genre artists whose work is deeply imbedded in literary creation.
Born in Knoxville in the 1940s, Nikki Giovanni has become one of America’s most important writers and poets. Giovanni received her undergraduate education at Fisk University, later doing graduate work at the University of Pennsylvania and Columbia University. The assassinations of leaders such as Martin Luther King, Jr., Malcolm X, Medgar Evers, and Robert Kennedy motivated her earliest published poetry. Since then, the poet, activist, and commentator on social justice has solidified a reputation for advocacy and delivery that has earned her awards and accolades including seven NAACP Image Awards, the Langston Hughes Award for Distinguished Contributions to Arts and Letters, and the Rosa Parks Women of Courage Award. Giovanni will give a featured reading at the festival.
The legendary multi-genre Patti Smith, announced with great fanfare for the later-canceled 2020 Big Ears, will make it this time with two appearances at the festival: a show with her band, followed by Words and Music, devoted to readings and acoustic performances.
Nikky Finney, poet and native of South Carolina, weaves threads of personal and political activism through her work, work that earned her the National Book Award in 2011 for her poetry collection Head Off & Split. Finney will make two appearances at Big Ears: reading in collaboration with cellist / composer Tomeka Reid and participating in a unique dialog with singer-songwriter Tift Merritt.
Yet another Big Ears 2022 artist that fell prey to the 2020 Big Ears cancellation brought on by Covid precautions was Saul Williams. Williams practically defines the concept of a “multi-genre” artist as a poet, actor, and musician, not only by being termed “the poet laureate of hip-hop” but also for his compelling film appearances. Williams will perform twice at the Big Ears with a spoken word set and a presentation of his multimedia opus MartyrLoserKing.
Awarded a 2021 MacArthur Fellowship, poet, essayist, and cultural critic Hanif Abdurraqib has written extensively about music and culture. His 2021 essay collection A Little Devil in America: Notes in Praise of Black Performance received the 2022 Andrew Carnegie Medal for Excellence and was mentioned in Publishers Weekly as “…filled with nuance and lyricism, Abdurraqib’s luminous survey is stunning.” Abdurraqib will give a featured reading at Big Ears.
National Book Award and Pulitzer Prize-nominated poet and playwright Cornelius Eady is the co-founder of Cave Canem, an organization that supports the artistic and professional growth of African American poets. His 1991 The Gathering of My Name was nominated for a Pulitzer Prize. In 2021, Eady joined the Creative Writing faculty of the University of Tennessee Department of English in Knoxville. Known for incorporating jazz and blues into his poetry performances, Eady can be seen and heard at Big Ears with his folk trio.
Festival information: https://bigearsfestival.org/
