An Evening with Nikki Giovanni: Poetry Reading and Screening of Going to Mars: The Nikki Giovanni Project

This event does not require registration; see further details below.

The Harvard Art Museums and the Woodberry Poetry Room invite you to an evening with literary icon and revered social justice activist Nikki Giovanni. The program will begin with a screening of the 2024 documentary Going to Mars: The Nikki Giovanni Project (HBO Documentary Films; English; 102 min.), which celebrates Giovanni’s life and work and looks at the revolutionary historical periods she’s lived through—from the civil rights movement to Black Lives Matter. The screening will be followed by a poetry reading by Giovanni. She will be introduced by award-winning poet and current poet laureate of San Francisco Tongo Eisen-Martin.

Free admission, but seating is limited. The screening and poetry reading will take place in Menschel Hall, on the Lower Level of the Harvard Art Museums; doors to the hall will open for seating at 4:30pm.

The film will begin at 5pm and the poetry reading will begin at 7pm. The seating for the film will be open from 4:30 to 6pm. If you’d like to attend only the poetry reading, seating will re-open from 6:45 to 7pm sharp.

We expect this to be a popular event, so we recommend arriving in the first seating window, between 4:30 and 6pm.

The reading will be livestreamed beginning at 7pm on the Woodberry Poetry Room YouTube channel.

The Harvard Art Museums are now offering free admission every day, Tuesday through Sunday. Please see the museum visit page to learn about our general policies for visiting the museums.

This event is presented in partnership with the Woodberry Poetry Room, with support from the Richard L. Menschel Endowment Fund.

The Harvard Art Museums are committed to accessibility for all visitors. For anyone requiring accessibility accommodations for our programs, please contact us at am_register@harvard.edu at least 48 hours in advance.