In the Ring with Words: An Evening with Adrian Matejka

Adrian Matejka will read from "The Big Smoke" and discuss the creative process behind the Pulitzer Prize-nominated collection. Allen University's “The Big Smoke: The Unfinished Fight” is a yearlong campus and community initiative inspired by acclaimed poet Adrian Matejka’s The Big Smoke and the extraordinary life of Jack Johnson, America’s first Black heavyweight boxing champion. As part of Allen University’s National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) Big Read initiative and in recognition of America250, the program will bring together students, faculty, scholars, artists, athletes, poets and community members for a series of programs from September 2026 through April 2027. The initiative uses Johnson’s life and Matejka’s award-winning poetry as a lens to explore race, resilience, citizenship, masculinity, social justice, and the continuing meaning of freedom in America. This project was supported in part by the National Endowment for the Arts. We encourage you to find out more about how National Endowment for the Arts grants impact individuals and communities at www.arts.gov. Allen University also acknowledges Arts Midwest as a project supporter.