UIC at Lit Fest this weekend

Roger Reeves, a poet and assistant professor of English, will interview Pulitzer Prize-winning poet Tracy K. Smith at the Lit Fest Sunday. Photo: Roberta Dupuis-Devlin

Two UIC faculty members and an alumna will be among the featured participants this weekend at Chicago Tribune Printers Row Lit Fest.

The 32nd edition of the annual literary event, scheduled for June 11 and 12, is expected to draw more than 150,000 attendees to Chicago’s Printers Row neighborhood.

Roger Reeves, a poet and assistant professor of English, will interview Tracy K. Smith, a Pulitzer Prize-winning poet and Princeton University professor, at 1:30 p.m. Sunday at the Lit Fest center stage.

Reeves writes poetry that explores the African American experience, politics, personal ordeals and pop culture. In 2015, he was named a recipient of the prestigious Whiting Award, which annually recognizes 10 emerging writers in fiction, nonfiction, poetry and drama. His other notable honors include a 2013 National Endowment for the Arts creative writing grant for outstanding poets and a 2013 Pushcart Prize, a major honor for work published by small literary magazines or small presses around the world.

Lisa Yun Lee, director of the School of Art and Art History, will be at the Lit Fest Saturday. Photo: Jenny Fontaine

Lisa Yun Lee, director of the School of Art and Art History, will lead a conversation with Luis Rodriguez, author and poet, and Jamila Woods, a poet, singer and teaching artist, at 11:15 a.m. Saturday at Grace Place, 637 S Dearborn St., 2nd floor.

Lee is also a visiting curator at the Jane Addams Hull-House Museum, and affiliated faculty member in art history, museum and exhibition studies, and gender and women’s studies. Her research and writing examines museums and diversity, cultural and environmental sustainability, and spaces for fostering radically democratic practices.

HOY newspaper will present workshops for children with UIC alumna Patricia Carlos Dominguez at 1:15 p.m. Saturday and 1 p.m. Sunday at Hotel Blake, Dearborn Room, 500 S. Dearborn St. She will present her recently published bilingual book, Tsipeni y Joselito, which deals with bullying.

Dominguez, who earned her bachelor’s degree in romance languages, is a writer, director, and producer of original works of children’s theater and has brought productions for adults from Mexico to Chicago. She also designs and presents workshops based on the culture and traditions of Mexico to children, teachers, and parents.

Admission is free and tickets are not required for the events noted.