Students and faculty members of the University of New Haven filled the Alumni Lounge in Bartels on Sept. 18, to listen to prize-winning poet Tyehimba Jess share and lecture about his poems.

UNH assistant English professor, Randall Horton, introduced Jess and his extensive works in poetry, which have been published in several professional anthologies and journals. Jess is a National Poetry Series winner for his publically acclaimed book of poetry, “Lead Belly.” Jess was also featured in “Ted Talks,” to share his unique style of poetry.During his presentation, Jess read one of the poems from “Lead Belly,” but mostly shared poems from his upcoming book, “Olio.” Jess noted that much of the yet-to-be-published book would be comprised of syncopated sonnets, in which the reader has the interpretation and freedom to read however he or she chooses.

Jess also talked about the concept of a crown of sonnets, which allows readers to jump from one sonnet to the next, and continuously keep reading. Jess emphasized this concept by passing out his poems folded as such in a Moebius strip, which held never-ending sonnets.

The bulk of the poems read were centered around African-American conjoined twins, Christine and Millie Mckoy, whom after their parents had made an agreement with an entertainment scout, were put on display at state fairs under the show-name, “The Two-Headed Nightingale.”

Jess used his experiences in slam poetry to entertain and draw the crowd in when reading his poems aloud. The audience had the privilege of getting insight to these upcoming poems and learning what inspired Jess to write them.

At the end, students were given the opportunity to ask Jess direct questions. When asked about how he distinguished between historical accuracy and creative interpretation, Jess responded with, “I wanted to get the facts right, but I wanted to have fun playing in the facts.”