Kwame Alexander, poet and award-winning producer of literary programs, read two of his books Friday at the summer camp at the Cleveland Family YMCA. Then he pretended to be a talk show guest and invited Neva Shepherd to ask questions. Alexander wrote and performed a poem for an inaugural ball for President Barack Obama.CLEVELAND, Tenn.-“Can you name three poets?” Kwame Alexander asked as small hands went up quickly.
Shakespeare, Dr. Seuss and Edgar Allen Poe were the answers he got.
Alexander, a poet who performed one of his works at an inaugural ball for President Barack Obama, visited children at the Cleveland Family YMCA day camp Friday.
“I want to inspire young people to become avid writers and readers,” he said in an interview after the visit. “If they are inspired, then they begin to think maybe this reading thing is cool.”
He read his first children’s book, “Indigo Blume and the Garden City,” and his new book for kids, “Acoustic Rooster,” set for publication in September.