CANTON -- Poet Iain Haley Pollock will share his views on racial issues as part of SUNY Canton's spring 2013 Living Writers Series.

Pollock will speak at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday, March 27 at the Kingston Theater.

Pollock's collection of poetry, "Spit Back a Boy," won the Cave Canem Poetry Prize, which recognizes exceptional first books by African-American poets.

His childhood experiences of growing up the son of an African-American mother and white father influenced his work and the title of his book.

Pollock's work has also appeared in the Poetry Society of America's "In Their Own Words" feature and publications, including AGNI, American Poetry Review, Boston Review, Callaloo, Drunken Boat and Indiana Review.

He will discuss his personal connection to the larger world of poetry as well as read some of his own works.

"Pollock's poetry nimbly weaves between the worlds of blues and jazz, love and loss, black and white, all with a stunning dexterity, sincerity and beauty," said SUNY Canton professor Philip LaMarche, who created the Living Writers Series.

This is the second semester of the Living Writers Series. LaMarche arranges guest lectures to correspond with his Living Writers Course curriculum so that students enrolled in the class can read the books by authors scheduled to visit the vollege.

The last installment of this semester's series will be Siobhan Fallon, author of "You Know When the Men Are Gone," at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday, April 24, in the Kingston Theater.