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Runagate: Songs of the Freedom Bound

Crystal Simone Smith and Tsitsi Ella Jaji in Conversation

Date

Sep 17 2025

Time

12:00 pm - 1:15 pm

Location

Ahmadieh Family Lecture Hall

Bay 4 (C105), Smith Warehouse, 114 S Buchanan Blvd, Durham, NC 27701

Runagate: Songs of the Freedom Bound

 

Crystal Simone Smith & Tsitsi Ella Jaji

 

Join us to welcome Crystal Simone Smith back to the Franklin Humanities Institute for a conversation with fellow poet-scholar Tsitsi Ella Jaji in celebration of Smith's latest poetry collection, Runagate: Songs of the Freedom Bound, published in May 2025 by Duke University Press.

Smith and Jaji have a history of creative collaboration, including through the Humanities Unbounded Fellowship at Duke in 2020 and the recent song cycle, "Songs in Flight." Their deep knowledge and appreciation of each other's work will provide the foundation for a fascinating discussion about poetry, history, and archives, highlighted by readings from Smith's newest work.

All are welcome. Light refreshments will be provided. Copies of Runagate will be available for sale at the event by the Gothic Bookstore.

Speakers

Crystal Simone Smith

Crystal Simone Smith is an award-winning poet and educator. She is the author of Runagate: Songs of the Freedom Bound (Duke University Press, 2025) and Dark Testament (Henry Holt, 2023). In 2022, her collection of haiku, Ebbing Shore, won The Haiku Foundation Touchstone Distinguished Book Award. Smith is the recipient of a Duke…...

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Tsitsi Jaji

Duke University

Tsitsi Jaji is Helen L. Bevington Associate Professor of Modern Poetry with appointments in English and African & African American Studies. Her research ranges across literary and cultural studies, with special interests in music, poetry, and black feminisms. She is the author of several books of scholarship and poetry. Africa…...

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Runagate: Songs of the Freedom Bound

 

Crystal Simone Smith & Tsitsi Ella Jaji

 

Join us to welcome Crystal Simone Smith back to the Franklin Humanities Institute for a conversation with fellow poet-scholar Tsitsi Ella Jaji in celebration of Smith's latest poetry collection, Runagate: Songs of the Freedom Bound, published in May 2025 by Duke University Press.

Smith and Jaji have a history of creative collaboration, including through the Humanities Unbounded Fellowship at Duke in 2020 and the recent song cycle, "Songs in Flight." Their deep knowledge and appreciation of each other's work will provide the foundation for a fascinating discussion about poetry, history, and archives, highlighted by readings from Smith's newest work.

All are welcome. Light refreshments will be provided. Copies of Runagate will be available for sale at the event by the Gothic Bookstore.

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