with Ariana Benson, 2024 Lenore Marshall Poetry Prize recipient
Co-sponsored by Glen Hollow and The Bristol Library
Join us for a summer evening at Gell, when we welcome Ariana Benson, winner of the Academy of American Poets’ 2024 Lenore Marshall Prize, the 2024 Cave Canem Poetry Prize, and the 2025 Kate Tufts Discovery Award for her debut book of poems, Black Pastoral.
Benson’s collection of eco-poetry explores the complex duality of Black peoples’ past and present relationship with nature, showing how suffering and thriving are forever wound around one another. Black Pastoral seeks to be both love letter and elegy, both flame to raze the field and flood to nourish the land anew.
“If poetry is a form of prayer, then Black Pastoral is church, pew, pastor, baptismal site, hymn, and a symphonic archive of our historical silences.” – Willie Perdomo
A Ruth Lilly and Dorothy Sargent Rosenberg Fellow, Ariana Benson is also the recipient of a fellowship from the National Endowment for the Arts, the Furious Flower Poetry Prize, and the Graybeal-Gowen Prize for Virginia Poets. She graduated from Spelman College and holds MA degrees in both poetic practice and scriptwriting. Benson facilitates creative writing and storytelling workshops at historically Black colleges and universities.
More about our event co-sponsor, Glen Hollow: Glen Hollow is a vacation rental, writer’s retreat, and winery launching its first vintage in 2025. We are proud to be an official partner to the Academy of American Poets, providing residence-retreats to winners of the Lenore Marshall Prize. For more information find us online at GlenHollowFLX.com or follow us on Instagram @glenhollowflx.