Franklin Abbott, W. J. Lofton, Nico Wilkinson: Transformations...
Sat, Oct 04
|Marriott Hotel, Swanton Amphitheatre
Through pandemic, queer and trans reflections, these poets affirm resilience, renewal, and radical change. Hosted by Jericho Brown.
Time & Location
Oct 04, 2025, 3:45 PM – 4:45 PM EDT
Marriott Hotel, Swanton Amphitheatre, 130 Clairemont Ave, Decatur, GA 30030, USA
About
The Transformations... panel brings together poets who chart the shifting terrain of life and identity. Franklin Abbott reflects on the pandemic years and the healing power of ordinary life; W. J. Lofton channels the joys and sorrows of Black queer Southern experience; and Nico Wilkinson roots their work in challenges, joy, and humanity of inhabiting a transgender identity and body.
Following the panel, authors will proceed to signing tables to autograph books.
Click here to browse all featured titles from the DBF Marriott 2025 Poetry Stage, available through Charis Books.
About the Stage Host
Jericho Brown is author of the The Tradition (Copper Canyon 2019), for which he won the Pulitzer Prize. He is the recipient of fellowships from the Guggenheim Foundation, the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study at Harvard, and the National Endowment for the Arts, and he is the winner of the Whiting Award. Brown’s first book, Please (New Issues 2008), won the American Book Award. His second book, The New Testament (Copper Canyon 2014), won the Anisfield-Wolf Book Award. His third collection, The Tradition won the Paterson Poetry Prize and was a finalist for the National Book Award and the National Book Critics Circle Award. His poems have appeared in The Bennington Review, Buzzfeed, Fence, jubilat, The New Republic, The New York Times, The New Yorker, The Paris Review, TIME magazine, and several volumes of The Best American Poetry. He is the director of the Creative Writing Program and a professor at Emory University.