Creative Campus

On September 3rd, 2009, Creative Campus as well as the University of Alabama welcomed poets Sue Walker and Jeannie Thompson to Tuscaloosa. 

For Walker, the trip to the capstone was one of homecoming, and she even stated, “I am very proud to be from UA, and I remember my times here vividly.” However fond those memories may be, Walker has gone on to what many would consider greater things –becoming the Poet Laureate of Alabama.

Thompson is the executive director of the Alabama Writer’s Forum, as well as an oft-published poet.

The writers opened the day with a luncheon at Maxwell hall to discuss not only writing, but also the aspects of their positions that deal with both arts education and administration, their involvement with service-arts through organizations like Poetry Out Loud, and other facets of their lives as poets and writers in Alabama.

After this conversation, Walker and Thompson joined other writers for an open forum on the public capacity of language and writing: Poetry, Community, and Public Engagement: A Conversation.

Later that night, Walker and Thompson gave a stunning reading at the Historic Bama theatre in downtown Tuscaloosa; members of the community came together to give the poets a warm reception for their poetry.