Author Alexs Pate will discuss his forthcoming book tomorrow

Author Alexs Pate will discuss his forthcoming book tomorrow

Alexs Pate, assistant professor of Afro-American and African Studies at the University of Minnesota, will speak at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 8, in Room 126, John R. Roach Center for the Liberal Arts. Pates will talk about his forthcoming book, In the Heart of the Beat: The Poetry of Rap.

Pate, a celebrated author and critic, has written several books, including Amistad, a novel commissioned by Steven Spielberg's Dreamworks-SKG and based on the movie screenplay by David Franzoni, as well as Losing Absolom, West of Rehoboth, Finding Makeba, Multicultihobo Sideshow, and The Past is Perfect: Memoir of a Father-Son Reunion.

Pate also has taught and lectured widely on hip hop culture and rap music. His newest work, In the Heart of the Beat, is a critical study that argues for reading and interpreting rap music as poetry. Pate will speak about this forthcoming work and engage in a discussion with the audience. Everyone is invited to attend.

This talk is presented by American Cultural Studies, an interdisciplinary program minor that explores vernacular and elite culture, examining the symbols, practices and histories that contribute to the complexity and variety of the American experience.

For more information, e-mail Dr. Todd Lawrence, interim program director.