Princeton’s second BIENNIAL POETRY ­FESTIVAL will take place April 29 and 30 in Richardson Auditorium. Among the poets featured in readings, panel discussions, and lectures are the Brazilian poet Paulo Henriques Britto, the Israeli poet Agi Mishol, and the Slovenian poet Aleš Šteger. American poets participating include Anthony Carelli, Kathleen Graber, Carl Phillips, and Natasha Trethewey.  

The festival opens Friday, April 29, with a reading by four poets, followed by a panel discussion, “Poet as Politician,” and a lecture by Mark Doty on “The Art of Description.” Saturday’s panel will discuss “Poet as Philosopher.” For a complete list of events, go to   http://bit.ly/gexAX0.

The National Academy of Sciences has recognized two  faculty members with awards for extraordinary scientific achievement.  Molecular biology professor BONNIE BASSLER received the Richard Lounsbery Award for her discoveries in chemical communication between bacteria. PAUL REIDER, lecturer in the chemistry department, received the NAS Award for  Chemistry in Service to Society for his role in developing drugs that  treat diseases including asthma and AIDS.

IN MEMORIAM: TOSHIKO TAKAEZU, a renowned ceramist who helped shape the University’s visual arts program over her 25 years on the faculty and who created the bronze Remembrance Bell in the University’s Memorial Garden, commemorating victims of the Sept. 11 attacks, died March 9 in Honolulu. She was 88. Takaezu taught at Princeton from 1967 until her retirement in 1992. She returned in 2004 as a Belknap Visitor in the Humanities. Princeton honored Takaezu with the Howard T. Behrman Award for Distinguished Achievement in the Humanities in 1992 and an honorary doctorate of fine arts in 1996.