California State University Professor Lauri delivered an inspiring speech on contemporary African-American poems for the faculty and students of the college on June 15th, 2016. The lecture was hosted by Dean of the college, Professor Cai Bin.
During the two-hour lecture sessions, Prof. Lauri expounded the history of African-American poems, introducing some much-acclaimed poets from the 19th to the 20th century and their works, quoting comments made by American scholars in praise of those African-American poets and their works. According to him, their themes changed together with the time, which corresponded with the development of the other fields in the US. Prof. Lauri played the song entitled Water, which also impressed the audience members deeply. Although it was very short, its liquid notes showcased the universality of African-American poems as well as their creators’ talents in metre and rhythm. In his speech, Prof. Lauri pointed out the duality reflected in the creation of African-American, i.e. the oral and written text before sharing some written texts with the audience members who were deeply touched by the unique style.
Before ending his speech, Prof. Lauri interacted with the audience by answering their questions which involved many subjects such as Poetry Theory of Edgar Allan Poe and Transcendentalism of Thoreau.
