Start 2023 with Joy

Kick off your new year with an online conversation about joy with best-selling essayist and award-winning poet Ross Gay, hosted by more than 200 Illinois public libraries.

Gay is the author of “Inciting Joy,” a collection of essays about centering the people and things we love and that bring us together. In these gorgeously written and timely pieces, Gay considers the joy we incite when we care for each other, especially during life’s inevitable hardships. Throughout “Inciting Joy,” he explores how we can practice recognizing and expanding that connection.

To bring this message to residents, Vernon Area and other public libraries across the state are partnering to present “Inciting Joy: A Conversation with Ross Gay” on Wednesday, January 11, from 7:00 - 8:00 p.m. on Zoom. Performance poet Dan “Sully” Sullivan will join Ross in conversation. Admission is free.

Gay has also penned four books of poetry, including a National Book Critics Circle Award award and the 2016 Kingsley Tufts Poetry Award. His 2019 collection of essays, “The Book of Delights,” was a New York Times bestseller.

• Ross Gay in the library catalog
• Ross Gay in cloudLibrary 
• The Book of Delights no-wait audiobook on hoopla

Dan “Sully” Sullivan is a three-time Chicago Poetry Slam Champion. His poems and performances have been featured on HBO Def Poetry Jam, WGN Morning News, and National Public Radio. Sully’s first full-length book of poems, “The Blue Line Home,” is available from EM-Press.

This event is made possible by Illinois Libraries Present, a statewide collaboration among public libraries offering premier events.

About Illinois Libraries Present

Illinois Libraries Present (ILP) debuted in 2022 as a way to bring virtual events with bestselling authors and diverse and esteemed speakers to communities across the state and counts more than 200 Illinois libraries as members. Joining forces for such events allow libraries to bring speakers to their communities that might not be possible due to budget constraints or production capabilities. ILP is funded in part by a grant awarded by the Illinois State Library, a department of the Office of Secretary of State, using funds provided by the U.S. Institute of Museum and Library Services, under the provisions of the Library Services and Technology Act (LSTA). 
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