Seeing Patti Smith is amazing. Not just seeing her play music, which is pretty much the definition of sublime, but also seeing her read poetry, give a speech, or just do whatever. If someone were charging 30 bucks a ticket to watch Patti Smith read the lunch menus for rural Michigan elementary schools, I would consider that fair.

Columbia College just announced that Smith is coming to town November 30 to speak as part of the school's series Conversations in the Arts. She'll be interviewed onstage by XRT's Terri Hemmert, which sounds incredible. Smith is one of the all-time great interviews in rock, and her thoughts on art and the process of creating it are so fascinating and inspiring that even non-fans of her music should consider this a must-go event.

Starting on October 19, you can RSVP for your free ticket. I highly recommend that you get on that shit as soon as humanly possible.

Photo: Edward Mapplethorpe