Poet Major Jackson kicks off New Trier Lit Fest with community reading

Northfield, Ill. – Community members gathered for a poetry reading and Q&A with poet Major Jackson at New Trier High School’s Northfield Campus (7 Happ Road) on Wednesday, Feb. 26, at 6:30 p.m. in the Cornog Theatre. Jackson, who, in addition to being the Gertrude Conaway Vanderbilt Chair of Humanities at Vanderbilt University, is also the poetry editor of the Harvard Review, the author of six books of poetry (including his recent new and selected Razzle Dazzle), and the host of the enormously popular podcast The Slowdown. 

Jackson was the keynote speaker of the New Trier English Department’s 21st Annual New Trier Literary Festival (Lit Fest), which brings professional writers representing various genres to New Trier creative writing students for a full day of interactive workshops, and now includes this inaugural community event.

With the help of the New Trier Educational Foundation, New Trier alumnus Hale Curtis ’66 gifted the English Department with an endowment of $100,000 to honor the memory of his mother, Phyllis Barbara Marschall, who graduated from New Trier in 1947.

“My mother enjoyed reading [and] she always had a book in her hand, fiction or non-fiction,” Curtis said. “Supporting Lit Fest would be a fitting tribute to her memory.”

The Phyllis Marschall Curtis Cramer '47 Endowment funded the named speakership to enhance the learning experience for students and faculty alike and provide opportunities for audiences outside the school to enjoy.

“This endowment has provided us with the means to continue an exceptional experience for students, enriching our existing English classes,” Carlo Trovato, who organizes the event with fellow English Faculty John O’Connor and Leslie Birdwell, said. “With this additional funding, talented writers can also share their work directly with English teachers and with the larger community.”

In addition to the community event, Jackson led workshops for the English Department during its professional development retreat and for students the following day during Lit Fest, where he was joined by 18 other world-renowned professionals with expertise in journalism, oral storytelling, playwrighting, poetry, translating, songwriting, fiction and nonfiction writing, podcasting, and comic art.

“In supporting this dialogue between artists and students, this gift from Mr. Curtis honors his mother’s legacy of valuing a well-rounded education for all New Trier students, one that transcends barriers, touches hearts, and inspires students to create,” English Department Chair Ed Zwirner said.