Join us on Tuesday, February 10 for a reading by Robin Coste Lewis, the Poet Laureate Emeritus of Los Angeles, followed by a thought-provoking conversation with host Alexandra Grant.
Oxy Live! Is Occidental’s flagship event series showcasing a diverse lineup of cultural luminaries. The 2025-26 season is hosted by celebrated artist and cultural collaborator Alexandra Grant. Register for this free event.
Award-winning poet Robin Coste Lewis joins Grant for a reading and thought-provoking conversation on Tuesday, February 10 in Thorne Hall.
Curated by OXY ARTS, the College’s community-based arts hub, this event is funded through the generous support of Occidental trustee and alumna, Lisa Coscino ’85 and the Occidental Class of ’74.
Robin Coste Lewis’ debut poetry collection, Voyage of the Sable Venus (Knopf) won the
National Book Award in poetry––the first time a poetry debut by an African-American had ever won the prize in the National Book Foundation's history, and the first time any debut had won the award since 1974. Critics called the collection “A masterpiece...” “Surpassing imagination, maturity, and aesthetic dazzle...” “remarkable hopefulness...in the face of what would make most rage and/or collapse...” “formally polished, emotionally raw, and wholly exquisite." Voyage of the Sable Venus was also a finalist for the LA Times Book Prize, the Hurston- Wright Award, and the California Book Award. The Paris Review, The New Yorker, The New York Times, BuzzFeed, and Entropy Magazine all named Voyage one of the best poetry collections of the year. Flavorwire named the collection one of the 10 must-read books about art. And Literary Hub named Voyage one of the “Most Important Books of the Last Twenty Years.” A former Poet Laureate of Los Angeles, Lewis’ laureateship focused on truth and reconciliation
projects dealing with the city’s history.
Lewis’s writing has appeared in various journals and anthologies, such as Time Magazine, The New Yorker, The New York Times, The Paris Review, Transition, and Best American Poetry. In 2018, MoMA commissioned both Lewis and Kevin Young to write a series of poems to accompany Robert Rauschenberg’s drawings in Thirty-Four Illustrations of Dante’s Inferno (MoMA, 2018). Lewis’s latest collection is To the Realization of Perfect Helplessness.
Lewis received her BA from Hampshire College in creative writing and comparative literature; an MTS degree in Sanskrit and comparative religious literature from the Divinity School at Harvard University; an MFA in poetry at New York University; and a PhD from the University of Southern Creative Writing and Literature Program, where she was a Provost’s Fellow in poetry and visual studies. Lewis’s current research focuses on the intersecting production histories of early African American poetry and photography, for which she also received the Anne Friedberg Memorial Grant from USC's Visual Studies Research Institute.
Other fellowships and awards include those from the Cave Canem Foundation, the Los Angeles Institute of the Humanities, the Caldera Foundation, the Ragdale Foundation, the Headlands Center for the Arts, and the Summer Literary Seminars in Kenya. Lewis was a finalist for the International War Poetry Prize, and the National Rita Dove Prize. Lewis also received a Woman-of-the-Year award from Los Angeles County, and in 2018, Lewis was named an "Art-of-Change" fellow by the Ford Foundation.
In addition to writing essays and poetry, Lewis creates text/art installations and regularly collaborates/contributes on projects with visual artists and filmmakers. Lewis has taught on the faculty of Wheaton College, Hunter College, and Hampshire College. Currently, she teaches in NYU's low-residency MFA in Paris, and is a writer-in-residence at USC.
Born in Compton, California, her family is from New Orleans.
Photo Credit Dunya Alwan
Alexandra Grant is a celebrated Los Angeles and Berlin based visual artist whose work explores text, language, literature, and philosophy. She has exhibited in museums and galleries worldwide and collaborated with artists across disciplines. Her practice extends beyond the studio as a cultural collaborator who supports and elevates the work of creatives and organizations across many communities. Grant is a staunch advocate of artists and particularly dedicated to supporting women and emerging artists. She is recognized for creating thoughtful spaces of dialogue and exchange, supporting innovative projects, and engaging audiences in conversations around creativity and cultural expression. In 2017 Grant co-founded the independent publisher X Artists’ Books to publish thoughtful, high-quality, artist-centered books; in 2008, she created the grantLOVE Project to raise awareness and funds for various arts nonprofits, and this year launched “LOVE Wine” with J Vineyards to empower women and creativity in the wine industry and the art world. A trailblazer and champion of the arts, Grant brings her passion, love of conversation, and open heart to Oxy Live!
