Patricia Smith, Ashley M. Jones, Donika Kelly, Aimee Nezhukumatathil

Join us for a reading celebrating 2021 Ruth Lilly Poetry Prize recipient Patricia Smith’s new book, The Intentions of Thunder: New and Selected Poems, which won the 2025 National Book Award for Poetry.

Smith is joined by fellow readers Ashley M. Jones (former guest editor of Poetry magazine and author of Lullaby for the Grieving), Donika Kelly (author of The Natural Order of Things), and Aimee Nezhukumatathil (author of Night Owl). 

This event is part of the Poetry Foundation’s spring 2026 season, No One Can Afford To Lose Love.

Additional Information

• All Poetry Foundation events are completely free of charge and open to the public.
• Advanced registration is encouraged.
• The performance space is ADA-compliant and wheelchair-accessible.
• The program will feature CART captioning and ASL interpretation.
• For more information about accessibility at the Poetry Foundation, please visit our Accessibility Guide.