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RELEASE ON RECEIPT
October 27, 1998
Oberlin
College Professor Calvin Hernton to be Honored November
6-8
Media
Contact: Betty
Gabrielli
OBERLIN, OHIO--Calvin Hernton--nationally acclaimed poet, essayist and professor of African American studies at Oberlin College--will be honored as a teacher, scholar and writer in a three-day program to be held Nov. 6- 8. Hernton, who joined the faculty in 1970, will retire from the College next spring.
Hernton has been a continuing mentor to a number of notable Oberlin graduates, including Avery Brooks, Capt. Sisko on Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, and a high-school principal in the just-released controversial film about neo-Nazis: American History X. Brooks also starred in the television series Spencer for Hire and a short-lived spinoff, A Man Called Hawk, for which Hernton wrote several scripts.
A program celebrating Hernton's accomplishments will take place at 7:30 p.m. Friday, Nov. 6, at the College's Afrikan Heritage House, 126 Forest St. A toast and roast will be held Saturday, November 7, also at Afrikan Heritage House. The program will conclude Sunday, at 1:30 p.m. with a talk by Hernton at the Oberlin Co-op Bookstore. 37 W. College St.
Poet, novelist, essayist, playwright, and social scientist, Hernton the author of eight books, including the bestselling Sex And Racism In America, which has been translated into seven langauges, and the ground-breaking The Sexual Mountain And Black Women Writers: Adventures in Sex, Literature, and Real Life.
He also has written two collections of poetry: Medicine Man and The Coming of Chronos to the House of Nightsong. His poems have appeared in Essence magazine, Evergreen Review, and Black Scholar, among others, and on various recordings and have been performed in plays on Broadway and on tour.
Hernton has served as chair of African American Studies at Oberlin as well as professor of creative writing. The Nov. 6-8 event "will honor the stellar role Professor Hernton has played in the development of the African American Studies Department at Oberlin," says Yakuba Saaka, acting chair.
"We want to acknowledge the varied and significant dimensions of his career as a teacher, scholar, essayist, novelist and poet. With interests in African, Caribbean and African American literature, Professor Hernton has been a guiding force in the development of the department."
Writers, scholars, alumni, faculty, students, friends, and family members will participate in the event, sponsored by the College's African American Studies Department and Afrikan Heritage House. Special guests include author Elaine Brown, a former Black Panther; Gregory Hampton, '91, African American Studies scholar; Akiba Harper, professor of English at Spelman College; author Catherine Jones; and Dr. Groesbeck Parham, M.D. '70.
