Join us for an evening with poet and jazz drummer Jes Simmons as part of the Longwood Authors Series on Wednesday, February 4, 2026, at 7:00 p.m. at the Robert Russa Moton Museum.

The program will feature a reading, followed by a reception and author meet & greet.

Jes Simmons is a second-generation poet and jazz drummer whose work is shaped by a lifelong engagement with rhythm and syncopation. She holds a B.A. from Millsaps College, an M.A. from Mississippi College, and a Ph.D. in English from Texas A&M University, all in English.

Her father, Edgar Simmons, was an English teacher and a noted Mississippi poet whose second book, Driving to Biloxi, was a finalist for the National Book Award in Poetry in 1968.

Jes’s poetry has appeared in College English Association Critic, Mississippi Arts and Letters, College English, Cornfed Angel, Magnolia State Quarterly Review, James Dickey Newsletter, Natchez Trace Literary Review, Salome, River City Review, and Sojourners. Her work is also included in anthologies such as Mississippi Writers: Reflections of Childhood and Youth, Mud Flat Verse, and The Southern Poetry Anthology.

Jes has made Farmville, Virginia her chosen home since 2013.

This event is free and open to the public. Community members are invited to attend and enjoy an evening of poetry, conversation, and connection at the Robert Russa Moton Museum.

Accessibility & Sponsorship Information

Persons with disabilities who wish to arrange accommodations or materials in an alternative format may call 434.395.2391 (Voice) or 711 (TT).

Sponsored by the Department of English and Modern Languages, Cook-Cole College of Arts and Sciences; Cormier Honors College; Office of the Provost; Longwood University Arts Council; Janet D. Greenwood Library at Longwood University; and the Robert Russa Moton Museum.

Portrait of Jes Simmons courtesy of the poet.