Thursday, May 24, 6:00 PM

The Mercantile Library

Cincinnati, Ohio

Reception - 6:00PM ~ Concert - 6:30PM

A Literary, Musical and Historical Homage!

Miss Wheatley’s Garden & Other Works: A Celebration of African American Women Poets and Composers

Tara Lake presents a celebration of African American women’s poetry and musical compositions in a lively exploration of classical art songs, poetry and prose. African American composer Rosephanye Powell’s “Miss Wheatley’s Garden” is an homage to Phyllis Wheatley, an enslaved poet who in 1773 became the first African American, female or male, to publish a book.  A sensation in her day, Ms. Wheatley is now widely regarded as the Mother of African American poetry. In celebration of her groundbreaking accomplishments, “Miss Wheatley’s Garden” sets the work of three prominent African American women poets – Frances Ellen Watkins Harper, Georgia Douglass Johnson, and Angelina W. Grimke – to music for Soprano and Piano.  The concert will also feature compositions by three additional African American women composers, Brittney Boykin (whose Maya Angelou Songs will receive their Midwest Debut), Undine Smith Moore and Jacqueline B. Hairston, along with performance of poetry and prose by African American women writers active in the Eighteenth through Twenty-First Centuries. More details at The Mercantile’s website.

This is a Free Concert - Open to the Public.

Reservations are Required: Call 513-621-0717 or Email

reservations@mercantilelibrary.com.