Oxy Live! starts the spring semester with a conversation between artist Alexandra Grant and Robin Coste Lewis, National Book Award winner and former Poet Laureate of Los Angeles. According to Meldia Yesayan, Executive Director of OxyArts, the Oxy Live! program strives to serve as a space for attendees to come together and sit with ideas. Lewis and Grant will be in conversation in Thorne Hall at Occidental College Feb. 10.
“Robin Coste Lewis is a widely respected writer, poet [and] thinker, whose work is at the intersection […] of literature, culture and critical inquiry,” Yesayan said. “I think her perspective kind of invites audiences to think about language and meaning in a different way as a poet.”
Associate Professor of English and Black Studies James Ford is the current Mary Jane Hewitt chair for Black Studies. Ford said he taught Lewis’ “Voyage of the Sable Venus” in two of his courses at Occidental College: Introduction to Black Studies and Contemporary American Poetry.
“We start off by reading other poetry that isn’t as intense, but still is thinking about the relationship between poetry and visual art,” Ford said. “In the African American literature course, we pair [‘Voyage of a Sable Venus’] directly with a scholarship that talks about the activism that occurred in the 20th century for African Americans to reclaim museums as Black spaces.”
According to Yesayan, Lewis will be introduced by two Occidental students from the English Department, Madéleine Hladky (senior) and Marley Marshall (senior).
“This is for the students to come and engage with not only the speaker and the ideas, but also other community members and kind of be in this space with faculty and community and other peers,” Yesayan said.
According to Yesayan, Alexandra Grant is the moderator for all 2025–26 Oxy Live! conversations.
“[Grant] is a pretty prominent artist in Los Angeles, and is very interested in conversations and collaborations,” Yesayan said. “It felt like the right fit for her to be a host this season.”
According to Allie Gordon, Director of Advancement Communications in the Occidental College Department of Marketing and Communications, Yesayan works closely with the marketing team to find meaningful ways to connect with community partners.
“There are so many artists doing interesting and important work, and Oxy Live! is often my first introduction to them,” Gordon said via email.
Ford said Lewis is a very down-to-earth and aware person who is committed to writing poetry that intervenes with the world around her, especially within Southern California.
“This is another important instance of Occidental being an urban liberal arts institution,” Ford said. “She’s a 30-minute drive away, and we shouldn’t take [her visit] for granted when there are museums, galleries and conferences that invite her to travel the world. We should make the most of the rich talents that we have right here.”
Yesayan said she hopes audience members will benefit from this shared community and they will find space for genuine exchange and reflection.
“This is one of those extraordinary experiences that stay with you after college that you remember and recollect, ‘Oh, I met that artist, or that musician or that poet when I was in college,’” Yesayan said. “Having these types of incredible speakers here on campus is such a wonderful opportunity.”
Ford said he will be attending the event and believes the conversation with Lewis is not to be missed.
“In turbulent times, poetry is essential,” Ford said. “Poetry and poets are normally the voices of radical change. And the poet, the poetic styles may vary, but the role of the poet is always to help us adapt to those moments where the typical storyline no longer works. So we have a lot that we can learn from Lewis.”
Contact Abigail Montopoli at montopoli@oxy.edu.
