Yalie Saweda Kamara is a Sierra Leonean-American writer, researcher, and educator from Oakland, CA. Kamara's debut poetry collection, Besaydoo (Milkweed Editions, 2024), won the Jake Adam York Prize and the Ohio Book Award in Poetry. Kamara’s work has been described as an “elegantly wrought love song for diasporic peoples and places in this country and beyond” (Milkweed Editions). Now an assistant professor of English at Xavier University, Kamara teaches courses in global and diasporic literature, creative writing, and hip-hop studies. Followed by conversation with Matt Donovan. Books available for sale & signing follows. Free & open to the public.

Livestream also available on the BDPC YouTube page: https://www.youtube.com/live/mQsqgJeuZo0?si=GqX0Uam44hXhBK2r

Free, open to the public and wheelchair accessible. For disability access information or accommodation requests, call/email Jen Blackburn (jblackbu@smith.edu, 413-585-4891). To request a sign language interpreter, email arc@smith.edu at least two full weeks before the event.