Artemis Journal Book Launch Featuring Poet Laureate Natasha Trethewey

Join us for a night of art and poetry as Artemis Journal launches their 2024 edition featuring Natasha Trethewey, the 19th Poet Laureate of the United States (2012-2014).

The journal’s theme is Illuminating the Darkness and addresses the challenges facing artists and writers today.

Natasha’s poem “Enlightenment” is the featured poem in this year’s journal. She wrote the poem after visiting Monticello, Virginia, with her poet father, Eric Trethewey, to learn more about the complicated and revered President Thomas Jefferson.

About Natasha Trethewey:
Natasha Trethewey served two terms as the 19^th Poet Laureate of the United States (2012-2014). She is the author of five collections of poetry, including Native Guard (2006)—for which she was awarded the 2007 Pulitzer Prize—and, most recently, Monument: Poems New and Selected (2018); a book of non-fiction, Beyond Katrina: A Meditation on the Mississippi Gulf Coast (2010); and a memoir, Memorial Drive (2020) an instant New York Times Bestseller.

She is the recipient of fellowships from the Academy of American Poets, the National Endowment for the Arts, the Guggenheim Foundation, the Rockefeller Foundation, the Beinecke Library at Yale, and the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study at Harvard.

She is a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, the American Academy of Arts and Letters, and the American Philosophical Society. In 2017, she received the Heinz Award for Arts and Humanities. As Chancellor of the Academy of American Poets since 2019, Trethewey was awarded the 2020 Rebekah Johnson Bobbitt Prize in Poetry for Lifetime Achievement from the Library of Congress.

About Artemis Journal:
Now in its 47th year of showcasing artists and writers of the Blue Ridge Mountains and beyond, Artemis Journal highlights the creative voices who uphold the values of the Greek lunar goddess for which the journal was named. As the archetype of the mother goddess, Artemis was the protector of wild animals, the wilderness, young women, and childbirth. She was known as a carrier of light.

Evening Schedule:
5-6 pm: Enjoy the open galleries and cash bar
6-7 pm: Artemis Journal poetry reading and discussion featuring 19th Poet Laureate Natasha Trethewey
7-7:30 pm: Book signing with Natasha Trethewey
Until 9 pm: Open galleries and cash bar continue

Tickets:
Adult Members: $20
Youth/Student (Middle and High School) Members: Free
Adult General Public: $25
Youth/Student (Middle and High School) General Public: $5
Luminary Ticket – includes reserved seating, drink ticket, and signed Artemis Journal: $80

Advance registration is required!

Artemis Journal cover art: Joge’s View by Cynthia Wick