The event, in partnership with the Oxford American, is part of the Clinton School Speaker Series. Guests will include Brian Clements, the book's editor, the poet Tarfia Faizullah, Crystal C. Mercer, Leifel Jackson, Warwick Sabin, Jay Barth, Police Chief Kenton Buckner, and Austin Bailey of Moms Demand Action.
About the book
Bullets into Bells: Poets and Citizens Respond to Gun Violence (Beacon Press, 2017) brings together poems by dozens of our best-known poets, including Billy Collins, Patricia Smith, Natalie Diaz, Ocean Vuong, Danez Smith, Brenda Hillman, Natasha Threthewey, Robert Hass, Naomi Shihab Nye, Juan Felipe Herrera, Mark Doty, Rita Dove, and Yusef Komunyakaa.
Each poem is followed by a response from a gun violence prevention activist, political figure, survivor, or concerned individual, including Nobel Peace Prize laureate Jody Williams; Senator Christopher Murphy; Moms Demand Action founder Shannon Watts; survivors of the Columbine, Sandy Hook, Charleston Emmanuel AME, and Virginia Tech shootings; and Samaria Rice, mother of Tamir, and Lucy McBath, mother of Jordan Davis.
The result is a stunning collection of poems and prose that speaks directly to the heart and a persuasive and moving testament to the urgent need for gun control.