She crisscrossed the state of Alabama interviewing diverse residents and asking them to recite verses from Walt Whitman’s great poem, “Song of Myself.” The results are uniquely beautiful and moving. On September 19 she will screen eight of the short films and discuss them, joined by:

• Karen Karbiener, founder of the Walt Whitman Initiative and professor of English at New York University
• Curtis Lovell, artistic director of Ujima Company, composer of songs and director of films based on Whitman poems
• Sam Magavern, senior policy fellow, Partnership for the Public Good, and founder of the Calamus Project