Poet/Playwright Alexander to Join Franklin, Ma, Perlman, et al. for Obama Inauguration

Poet and playwright Elizabeth Alexander will deliver a poem for incoming President Barack Obama’s inauguration on January 20, according to multiple reports.

She will be joined by pop diva Aretha Franklin; Itzhak Perlman and Yo-Yo Ma, with pianist Gabriela Montero and clarinetist Anthony McGill, performing a new composition by John Williams; and the San Francisco Boys Chorus and the San Francisco Girls Chorus.

Alexander is the author of the verse play Diva Studies, but is best known for her poetry collections The Venus Hottentot and Body of Life, as well as the essay collection, Antebellum Dream Book.