Hello and welcome to the 2016 Thanksgiving menu poem. This is the fifteenth incarnation of the Thanksgiving Menu-Poem! It is my great pleasure to host Elizabeth Alexander as this year’s Guest of Honor. As one of America’s premier poets it was a very easy choice to make. Her accomplishments are too numerous to mention here, but briefly I would like to draw your attention to a few of her many accolades. Currently Professor Alexander is a Chancellor of the Academy of American Poets, she was a finalist for the politer prize for her 2005 book, American Sublime and her poem “Praise Song for the Day” was commissioned for the inauguration of President Barack Obama in 2009. Her work has been recognized with numerous awards; most recently she was presented the prestigious Schomburg Medal, awarded by the New York Public Library and Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture on the Center’s 90th anniversary. Dr. Alexander is also an influential voice in the Cave Canem poetry workshop, a community she helped to foster for 20 years. She has been a mentor, advocate and friend to many poets, many of whom have gone on to the national stage such as Kevin Young, Natasha Trethewey, Tracy K. Smith, Evie Shockley, and Terrance Hayes. I hope you enjoy this meal, the menu and the poem. Have a Happy Thanksgiving!

Rockets, Geoffrey