ROOM 220 presents Dr. Jerry Ward and L. Kasimu Harris

ROOM 220 presents readings from Dr. Jerry Ward and L. Kasimu Harris at 7 p.m. on Thursday, February 2, at Antenna Gallery (3718 St. Claude Avenue). Ward will read from his most recent publication, Fractal Song, which is a collection of over thirty years of his work.

Jerry Ward is the author of The Katrina Papers: A Journal of Trauma and Recovery and co-editor of the Cambridge History of African American Literature. Ward spent 32 years as the Lawrence Durgin Professor of Literature at Tougaloo College and 10 years as Professor of English at Dillard University. Recognized as one of the leading experts on Richard Wright, he is a founding member of the Richard Wright Circle and co-edited The Richard Wright Encyclopedia (2008). Ward was also one of the co-founders of Callaloo literary journal.

L. Kasimu Harris is a storyteller who uses writing, photography and video to push the narrative. He is a New Orleans native and has been in more than 20 group exhibitions across America, two abroad and three solo photography exhibitions. In 2016, his most recent show, “L. Kasimu,” was curated by Kamau Ware at Warehouse Gallery and marked Harris’ New York exhibition debut. In 2015, he was in both The Rising and Louisiana Contemporary at the Ogden Museum of Southern Art and garnered coverage in The New York Times, NPR, and other publications.

Harris’ work modulates between photojournalism, documenting culture and constructed realities, all in an effort to tell stories of underrepresented communities in New Orleans and beyond. He created Parish Chic, a style column for the Oxford American and has been published in Yahoo Food, Southern Living, and The FADER. Most recently, a feature he wrote for Edible New Orleans was selected for the book “Best Food Writing 2016.”

Harris was named one of 8 Louisianians of the Year, for 2016, by Louisiana Life magazine.