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Defender of the Arts to be Guest Speaker at This Year’s Convocation

Merrimack College is honored to welcome a tireless defender of arts, the poet and playwright Hallie Hobson, as its guest speaker for this year's Convocation at Hammel Court in the Merrimack Athletic Center Thursday, Sept. 5 at 4 p.m.

Much of Hobson’s work has been in New York City where she’s spearheaded innovative planning, fundraising and patron-engagement strategies to enhance the vitality and health of non-profit cultural treasures. Her efforts have aided the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Museum of Modern Art, the New York Foundation for the Arts, The House Foundation for the Arts/Meredith Monk, and the Studio Museum in Harlem, New York where she led a $175 million capital campaign.

Hobson holds a master of fine arts in playwriting from University of California, Los Angeles and a bachelor of arts in African-American and theater studies from Yale University. Her poetry and playwriting talents have been recognized through prestigious awards, including Cave Canem Poetry Fellowship, the Mellon/Ford Summer Research Fellowship, the Hilgendorf Travel Fellowship, Graduate Opportunity Fellowship from UCLA, and the UCLA Affiliates Award.

Hobson, who is originally from Atlanta and now living in Harlem, New York, recently struck out on her own to enhance the cultural scene through her own creative work, including poetry and nonfiction writing.