Growing up in Indianapolis in the 1980s, Adrian Matejka dreamed about outer space. In a time of space shuttles and the Strategic Defense Initiative, Star Trek and Sun Ra, the stars both guided and obscured the earthly complexities of race, poverty, masculinity and migration. These themes play out in Adrian’s new collection of poetry, Map to the Stars. Indiana Humanities, in partnership with Indy Reads Books, is proud to host the Circle City debut of the Pulitzer Prize finalist’s new book. Join us to hear Adrian read from the collection, talk about his inspirations and answer questions from the audience. Light snacks and drinks—space-themed, of course—will be served, and a book signing will follow.

Adrian Matejka is the author of three collections of poetry: The Devil’s Garden (2002); Mixology (2009), which was a winner of the National Poetry Series competition; and The Big Smoke (2013) which won the Anisfield-Wolf Book Award and was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize and the National Book Award. Adrian is the recipient of fellowships from the Guggenheim Foundation, the Lannan Foundation and United States Artists. He lives in Bloomington, Ind., with his wife and daughter.