Pulitzer Prize-winning poet Natasha Trethewey will read at an event that fuses poetry, history, and art at 6:30 p.m. Thursday, April 19, at the Old Capitol Museum. The event is free and open to the public.

Trethewey, the current State Poet Laureate of Mississippi, will read from her prize-winning book, Native Guard. The event will also feature more than 150 art pieces on display from local high school students. They created artistic responses to Native Guard, exploring issues centered on racism, inequities, violence, memory, monument, and the shared history that connects us all.

The students’ artwork will be up for silent auction. Proceeds will benefit community partners, including the Domestic Violence Intervention Program, FasTrac, the Iowa City Community School District, and United Action for Youth.

In addition to the artwork, panels from the African American Museum about contributions of African Americans during wartime as well as panels exploring the experience of being a minority in Iowa from The Johnson County Historical Society will be on display. Online resources created by UI Interpretation of Literature students with the support of the Digital Studio for Public Humanities will be available for visitors to learn more about the project and the poems.

The formal program, which begins at 7 p.m., will include a presentation from Jennifer Harbour, a professor in the UI Department of History.

This event is presented by The Derek Project, an innovative, arts-based education curriculum implemented through a partnership-building program that aims to increase awareness of social issues via inspirational literature, artistic response, and engaged discussion.

Event sponsors include CARTHA, Community Foundation of Johnson County, College of Education, Department of Teaching and Learning, Department of English, African American Studies Program, Obermann Center for Advanced Studies, Arts Share, Prairie Lights, ACT Inc., National Council of Teachers of English-Student Affiliate, Association of Graduate Students in English, and The Digital Studio for Public Humanities.

For more information, visit www.derekproject.org or visit the research guide created by students in Jennifer Shook’s Interpretation of Literature courses at http://derekproject.wordpress.com/.

For special accommodations to attend this event, contact Amie Ohlmann at 319-621-1802 or amie-ohlmann@uiowa.edu.