Shara McCallum — Behold - with Chet'la Sebree
Shara McCallum presents *Behold*, a poetry collection rooted in her enduring engagement with visual art, particularly painting. The poems investigate why certain works and images move us, what it means to look at art and be looked at in return, and how perception shapes ideas of attraction, identity, and belonging.
Developed through more than two years of visits to museums in the United States and abroad, the collection responds to works by contemporary Caribbean, Black, and women artists. Its poems move through history, interior life, identity, connection, loss, and the ways people carry a sense of place within themselves. McCallum will discuss the book with poet and essayist Chet’la Sebree.
When: October 3, 2026
Showtime: 6:00 p.m.
Venue: Politics and Prose at Union Market, 1324 4th Street NE, Washington, DC 20002
Tickets: Free
Seating: First come, first served.
Featured authors: Shara McCallum and Chet’la Sebree
About Shara McCallum: McCallum, who is from Jamaica and is the daughter of a Jamaican father and Venezuelan mother, has written seven poetry books published in the United States and United Kingdom. Her honors include a Guggenheim Fellowship, Musgrave Medal, National Endowment for the Arts Fellowship, Hurston/Wright Legacy Award, OCM Bocas Caribbean Poetry Prize, and Agnes Lynch Starrett Prize. She teaches at Penn State University and served as the university’s laureate from 2021 to 2022.
About Chet’la Sebree: Sebree is the author of the essay collection *Turn (W)here: A Geography of Home*, forthcoming from The Dial Press on May 5, 2026. Her poetry books include *Blue Opening*, *Field Study*, and *Mistress*. Her work has received the James Laughlin Award from the Academy of American Poets, and she has also been a finalist for the Los Angeles Times Book Prize, Lambda Literary Bisexual Poetry Award, and NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Literary Work—Poetry. She teaches English at George Washington University and in Randolph College’s low-residency MFA program.
Related book: *Behold* by Shara McCallum is scheduled for publication on September 22, 2026. The paperback is listed at $21.95.
Accessibility: Requests for accommodations and accessibility questions should be sent to events@politics-prose.com, ideally at least one week before the event. The organizers will make efforts to accommodate requests made through the event.
Run time: Not specified.
Age guidance: Not specified.