Poetry: A Wandering Journey

“Poetry is meant to be heard out loud,” says Roy K. Johnston. A philosopher, educator, musician, and poet, Johnston has read his work from China to Jamaica, Cambridge to Malibu.

On Saturday, June 9, at 3 p.m., the Downtown Eugene Public Library hosts a reading and talk by Johnston titled “Poetry: A Wandering Journey,” a reflection on his life’s work including pieces on family, culture, war and peace, global connections, and the connections among fields ranging from the arts to sciences. Admission is free.

A 21st century renaissance man, Johnston grew up in New York City. He was a clarinet prodigy who earned a Master’s degree at The Juilliard School and a Doctorate in Music from USC, played classical music with the Atlanta Symphony and the New York City Ballet, and played jazz with the Woody Herman and Glen Miller bands.

After a career in music and education, including as Dean at the Boston Conservatory and the University of Southern Mississippi School of Fine Arts, he now pursues his passion for poetry. A lifetime quest for learning and performing has convinced him that most disciplines are connected and reveal an underlying unity of knowledge.

Johnston’s poetry has been published widely, including in 6 collections of his own. For 2 years he hosted a radio show, “Cerebral Meditations,” featuring international and national poets, writers and publishers. Johnston was recognized by the California Legislative Assembly and the City of Los Angeles for his 35 years of honorable service as “Performer, Professor, Poet, and Pioneer in the field of cultural integration.”

For more information, contact Eugene Public Library at 541-682-5450 or www.eugene-or.gov/library.

Co-sponsored by Eugene Public Library, Friends of Eugene Public Library, and Eugene Public Library Foundation.