Dillard University Alum Jericho Brown Wins Pulitzer Prize For Poetry

From Dillard University:

NEW ORLEANS - On May 4, 2020, Dillard University alum Jericho Brown ‘98 won the 2020 Pulitzer Prize in Poetry for his collection “The Tradition.” The Pulitzer board deemed it “a collection of masterful lyrics that combine delicacy with historical urgency in their loving evocation of bodies vulnerable to hostility and violence.” Brown’s win followed the premature deaths of Breonna Taylor, an award-winning emergency room technician and Ahmaud Arbery, a former star student athlete.

When asked why winning the Pulitzer Prize was important, the Shreveport, Louisiana native shared: “I’m happy to bring this prize back home, and by that, I mean back to black folks, back to the South, back to Louisiana, and back to my alma mater, Dillard University. Dillard is where I first took creative writing workshops as classes toward my major, and it’s where I first began to envision a life for myself as a writer,” he said. “These are not easy times for any of us, but I’d like to believe that this prize in this particular instance can show that there is still possibility for us no matter how rough the terrain may seem. And I’m grateful to have gotten the education necessary to make it to this moment.”

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This press release was produced by Dillard University. The views expressed are the author's own.