November 20, 2025 | 6–8 p.m. EDT at the National Humanities Center
The National Humanities Center is excited to put poet and scholar Cameron Awkward-Rich, PhD (Associate Professor of Women, Gender, Sexuality Studies, University of Massachusetts Amherst) in conversation with author and scholar Alexis Pauline Gumbs, PhD (NHC Fellow, 2020–21).
Cameron Awkward-Rich
Alexis Pauline Gumbs
Awkward-Rich will read from his new volume of poetry, An Optimism (Persea Books, October 2025), an exploration of becoming and identity that highlights Black, trans, and other minoritized forms of life. This conversation highlights the importance of coming together and being together in this fraught moment.
This event is co-hosted by the National Humanities Center and the Pauli Murray Center for History and Social Justice.