Sunday, February 02, 2025

Celebrating Nikki Giovanni at the Center

Yesterday, the Publishing Triangle, in collaboration with the bookstore Bureau of General Services-Queer Division (BGSQD), held a marvelous tribute to open Black History Month: "OutSpoken: A Tribute to Nikki Giovanni," honoring the essential poet, writer, teacher, intellectual, publisher, militant, and activist, who passed away last December 9, 2024, at 81. Nikki Giovanni gained public acclaim as one of the most important women and feminist thinkers and voices in the Black Arts Movement of the late 60s and early 70s, publishing her first two volumes of poetry, Black Thought, Black Feeling and Black Judgment, in 1968. She would go on to published scores more books, including poetry, essays, children's books, and more, including spoken word albums, and receive a vast array of honors for her work, including an American Book Award, the Ruth Lilly Prize, the Sankofa Freedom Award, and countless others.  She also became an influential teacher, at Virginia Tech, where she taught for 35 years, and at Cave Canem (how I wished I'd been there when she was teaching there!).

 

Hosted by the incomparable Emanuel Xavier, the event featured readings by leading queer poets Cheryl Boyce-Taylor, Reginald Harris, Darrel Alejandro Holnes, JP Howard & UGBA, and a Drag Queen Story Hour performance by none other than Harmonica Sunbeam. (The last time she participated in a Drag Queen Story Hour at the Center, as she reminded those present, back in March 2023, the event, which also featured New York State Attorney General Tish James, occasioned a minor media firestorm. There were no such disturbances on this night.) The readers each selected a poem by Giovanni, who has become iconic for several generations of poets, particularly Black queer and activist poets and other artists, and shared their own work, each before a beautiful still image of Giovanni during various stages of her life. Each aspect of this event would have made Giovanni feel truly loved and honored. "OutSpoken" also interspersed clips of readings by and interviews with Giovanni, bringing her actual voice into the room. 

A video clip of Nikki
Giovanni reading her work

Having taught her poetry once again last fall as part of my Black Arts Movement course, I was curious to see if anyone--or rather felt it likely that no one--was going to read some of her most rousing and incendiary early poems, particularly "The True Import of Present Dialogue, Black vs. Negro (For Peppe, Who Will Ultimately Judge Our Efforts," which is to say, the poem that begins "N****r / can you kill...." No one did, of course--and I want to say that Giovanni even left the poem out of her Selected Poems and Collected Poems, though I may be wrong on both accounts. My students this past semester, like students the prior time I taught this course, and like my own young self when I first read "The True Import," found that poem shocking, electrifying, disturbing, and yet so relevant, even decades later, for successive current moments. Giovanni wrote a follow-up poem, "My Poem," in which she basically says that she was already paying a price--political harassment, isolation, and so on--for writing "The True Import," but that, nevertheless, nothing would or will stop the revolution. 

In some ways she was right, while in other ways, the Civil Rights and Black Arts Movements did not achieve the goals many of its leading figures hoped for, though revolutions--cultural, political, social, psychic, if not economic--did occur and continue to resonate, and Giovanni, through her words, actions and life, was one of the people who made these transformations possible. Reggie Harris made a point in his remarks to note how Nikki lowkey affirmatively responded to a query about her partner and wife, now widow, Virginia Fowler, which was an effective and thoughtful way, I thought, to broach how Giovanni approached the subject matter of queerness and queer sexuality. Sex and love--for she is one of the great American poets on and of love--appear throughout her work, and her approach to queer desire and love increasingly appear in later work.


A few photos from the event--enjoy! (I would have posted a video of UGBA performing but unfortunately the video button here isn't working.)

Host Emanuel Xavier

Reggie Harris

 
Samiya Bashir

JP Howard

Cheryl Boyce-Taylor

Darrel Alejandro Holnes

UGBA

The one & only
Harmonica Sunbeam









Friday, January 03, 2025

51st Annual New Year's Day Marathon Reading at the Poetry Project

For the first time ever, I participated in the 51st Annual New Year's Day Marathon Reading at the Poetry Project at St. Mark's Church. This year's event, like earlier ones, aimed to raise funds for the Poetry Project's numerous poetry-related efforts, including underwriting the Poetry Project's numerous readings throughout the year, its quarterly Newsletter, its various educational programs, and payment of readers and performers. 

 There was also a book fair, featuring some of the best poetry books you could find anywhere, as well as rare gems, broadsides, posters, etc. and food and beverages. The event drew over 1,000 people in person (I made sure to mask up when I wasn't reading) and 1,400 online, which I think was a very good turnout to start 2025.

I'm sharing a few of the photos I took that give a sense of the event, which is always a bit raucous. In the 3-4 pm session helmed by Nora Treatbaby, I read three poems, one by the late Palestinian poet and activist Refaat Alareer (1979-2023), killed during the current genocide in Gaza, the second by the late Nikki Giovanni (1943-2024), one of my favorite poets in my youth, and the third a poem of my own about anti-war protesting, which felt appropriate for now (when is it not ever the right thing to share?). The readings and performances were various, striking and worth catching, and I was able to capture a few images below.

The .gif version of the flyer

 



Some photos:

In front of St. Mark's Church

The Poetry Project book fair

Food & drinks


Christian Nyampeta

Lauren Bakst

The audience

A packed St. Mark's

Benjamin Krusling

Setting up between sets

An enthralled audience

Bob Holman

CA Conrad, as Jeannine Otis sings (beautifully!)


One of the Marathon reading co-founders,
 Anne Waldman

Jonathan Gonzalez

Precious Okoyomon

The reading sardine

Foamola

Nazareth Hassan (I think)


Wednesday, January 01, 2025

Happy New Year / Happy 2025

HAPPY 2025!

May this upcoming year make all good things better & bring us all a large measure of peace!

Happy New Year!

Feliz año nuevo
Feliz Ano Novo
Bonne année
Buon Anno e tanti auguri
Kull 'aam wa-antum bikhayr
Aliheli'sdi Itse Udetiyvasadisv
Na MwakaMweru wi Gikeno
Feliĉan novan jaron
聖誕快樂 新年快樂 [圣诞快乐 新年快乐]
Bliain úr faoi shéan is faoi mise duit
Nava Varsh Ki Haardik Shubh Kaamnaayen
Ein gesundes neues Jahr
Mwaka Mwena
Pudhu Varusha Vaazhthukkal
Afe nhyia pa
Ufaaveri aa ahareh
Er sala we pîroz be
سال نو
С наступающим Новым Годом
šťastný nový rok
Manigong Bagong Taon sa inyong lahat
Feliç Any Nou
Yeni yılınızı kutlar, sağlık ve başarılar dileriz
نايا سال مبارک هو
Emnandi Nonyaka Omtsha Ozele Iintsikelelo
Subha Aluth Awrudhak Vewa
Chronia polla
Szczesliwego Nowego Roku
Kia pai te Tau Hou e heke mai nei
Shinnen omedeto goziamasu (クリスマスと新年おめでとうございます)
IHozhi Naghai
a manuia le Tausaga Fou
Paglaun Ukiutchiaq
Naya Saal Mubarak Ho

(International greetings courtesy of Omniglot and Jennifer's Polyglot Links; please note a few of the phrases may also contain Christmas greetings)





Monday, January 01, 2024

Happy New Year / Happy 2024


HAPPY 2024!

May this upcoming year make all good things better & bring us all a large measure of peace!

Happy New Year!

Feliz año nuevo
Feliz Ano Novo
Bonne année
Buon Anno e tanti auguri
Kull 'aam wa-antum bikhayr
Aliheli'sdi Itse Udetiyvasadisv
Na MwakaMweru wi Gikeno
Feliĉan novan jaron
聖誕快樂 新年快樂 [圣诞快乐 新年快乐]
Bliain úr faoi shéan is faoi mise duit
Nava Varsh Ki Haardik Shubh Kaamnaayen
Ein gesundes neues Jahr
Mwaka Mwena
Pudhu Varusha Vaazhthukkal
Afe nhyia pa
Ufaaveri aa ahareh
Er sala we pîroz be
سال نو
С наступающим Новым Годом
šťastný nový rok
Manigong Bagong Taon sa inyong lahat
Feliç Any Nou
Yeni yılınızı kutlar, sağlık ve başarılar dileriz
نايا سال مبارک هو
Emnandi Nonyaka Omtsha Ozele Iintsikelelo
Subha Aluth Awrudhak Vewa
Chronia polla
Szczesliwego Nowego Roku
Kia pai te Tau Hou e heke mai nei
Shinnen omedeto goziamasu (クリスマスと新年おめでとうございます)
IHozhi Naghai
a manuia le Tausaga Fou
Paglaun Ukiutchiaq
Naya Saal Mubarak Ho

(International greetings courtesy of Omniglot and Jennifer's Polyglot Links; please note a few of the phrases may also contain Christmas greetings)



Sunday, January 01, 2023

Happy New Year!


HAPPY 2023!

May this upcoming year make all good things better & bring us all a large measure of peace!

Happy New Year!

Feliz año nuevo
Feliz Ano Novo
Bonne année
Buon Anno e tanti auguri
Kull 'aam wa-antum bikhayr
Aliheli'sdi Itse Udetiyvasadisv
Na MwakaMweru wi Gikeno
Feliĉan novan jaron
聖誕快樂 新年快樂 [圣诞快乐 新年快乐]
Bliain úr faoi shéan is faoi mise duit
Nava Varsh Ki Haardik Shubh Kaamnaayen
Ein gesundes neues Jahr
Mwaka Mwena
Pudhu Varusha Vaazhthukkal
Afe nhyia pa
Ufaaveri aa ahareh
Er sala we pîroz be
سال نو
С наступающим Новым Годом
šťastný nový rok
Manigong Bagong Taon sa inyong lahat
Feliç Any Nou
Yeni yılınızı kutlar, sağlık ve başarılar dileriz
نايا سال مبارک هو
Emnandi Nonyaka Omtsha Ozele Iintsikelelo
Subha Aluth Awrudhak Vewa
Chronia polla
Szczesliwego Nowego Roku
Kia pai te Tau Hou e heke mai nei
Shinnen omedeto goziamasu (クリスマスと新年おめでとうございます)
IHozhi Naghai
a manuia le Tausaga Fou
Paglaun Ukiutchiaq
Naya Saal Mubarak Ho

(International greetings courtesy of Omniglot and Jennifer's Polyglot Links; please note a few of the phrases may also contain Christmas greetings)



Sunday, October 23, 2022

Reading with Sharon Olds at 92nd St Y

Tomorrow, I'll be reading with Sharon Olds as part of the 92nd St. Y's storied reading series, so if you're in New York City, please consider a little poetry for your evening. Sharon Olds needs no introduction, but I'll note that it will feel like a bit of a reunion, since she was teaching at NYU while I was in graduate school there, though I never had the opportunity of taking a class with her.

The event starts at 7:30 and will take place not at the Y, which is under renovation, but at NYPL's Bruno Walter Auditorium, which is at 111 Amsterdam Ave. at 65th Street, right behind Lincoln Center. 

You can get more info on tickets here, and the event also will be simulcast, I believe!


Join us if you can!

Wednesday, October 19, 2022

Literary Arts Lab at U of Chicago, Oct 20-22!

If you are free and in or around Hyde Park, please consider attending one of the events at the University of Chicago's Literary Arts Lab, their Fall 2022 Creative Writing festival! Participants include Eula Biss, Jennifer Croft, Suketu Mehta, Aisha Sabatini Sloan and yours truly!

You can find more information here, and all events are free and open to the public!



Friday, April 01, 2022

Imani X. Davis Reads "Napoleon Club" + Happy National/International Poetry Month

HAPPY POETRY MONTH!

Back in 2018 I posted a clip on here of a young performer, Orlando Watt, on YouTube performing a snippet of my poem "Words," which had appeared on the Academy of American Poets' Poetry Daily, courtesy of the amazing poet Dawn Lundy Martin. It is rare to have anyone read or perform my work, and I didn't know Watt, but I loved his interpretation, which he subsequently removed from YouTube. I believe he stated that it was part of his audition reels, which I also appreciated, because if one of my poems can in any way help another young artist get a gig, that for me is an unexpected but added bonus of creating it.

This morning while scrolling on Twitter I came across a tweet by Mani (Imani X. Davis), a doctoral student I've never met but who very kindly selected another poem of mine, "Napoleon Club," which like "Words" appears in my new collection Punks, to read online, and they do so beautifully. What a marvelous way to launch National/International Poetry Month, which begins today!

Many thanks to Imani X. Davis, and thank you especially for selecting a poem from Punks. You can follow this scholar and reader at @imanixdavis on Twitter, and please do read some poetry this month if you can!



And here is the video (many thanks again!):



Monday, March 21, 2022

Punks is a Lammy & Publishing Triangle Finalist!

Last December when I posted about Punks I noted that the positive response felt almost inconceivable, in no small part because this was a book that I thought might never appear, and whose publishing history was a long and tortured one (until The Song Cave entered the picture). It has, however, continued to garner good reviews, and recently was even nominated for two different awards. 

I learned a week ago that it is a finalist for the Lambda Literary Award for Gay Poetry, and then today, thanks to Reggie H. (thank you!), that it's a finalist for the Publishing Triangle's Thom Gunn Award for Gay Male Poetry. In both instances it is in excellent company (and all of the finalists for the Publishing Triangle Award are Black gay writers), and I extend my congratulations and best wishes to all my fellow finalists and nominees. Whatever happens, do read their books if you can, and urge your local libraries and bookstores to order them if they already have not.


2022 Lammy Award finalists in Gay Poetry:

  • Tenderness by Derrick Austin
  • Punks: New & Selected Poems by John Keene
  • Shoreditch by Miguel Murphy
  • Creep Love by Michael Walsh
  • Besiege Me by Nicholas Wong

2022 Publishing Triangle Thom Gunn Award in Gay Poetry finalists:
  • Shoreditch by Miguel Murphy
  • Punks: New & Selected Poems by John Keene
  • The Monster That I Am: Leontine Price and a Life in Verse by Kevin Simmonds
  • Mutiny by Phillip B. Williams

Sunday, February 27, 2022

Cave Canem's Tribute to Russell Atkins

This afternoon Cave Canem hosted a celebration for the great 20th century African American poet Russell Atkins, who had turned 96 just a few days earlier (February 25), and who wonderfully was able to be present, via Zoom, to experience the tribute to and for him. Hosted by Cave Canem's own Dante Micheaux, a gifted poet in his own right, the event featured thrilling readings and performances by Julie Ezelle Patton, Janice Lowe (who read one of Atkins's seemingly unvocalizable poems in marvelous, enthralling fashion), Daniel Gray-Konter, and Milena Gilgić, the first three of whom are, like Atkins, native Clevelanders, and all of whom were able, in various ways, to convey Atkins's profound originality and his abiding influence on their own work.  It would not incorrect to say that Atkins is one of the most important Black experimental writers of his generation and of the last 100 years, and yet his work remains far too little acknowledged. One of the highlights of the event was seeing Atkins onscreen and witnessing him wave and acknowledge all present.

Russell Atkins, 96 and watching
via Zoom

From Cave Canem's press release: 

Russell Atkins’ collections of poetry include the chapbooks and small-press books A Podium Presentation (1960), Phenlomena (1961), Objects (1963), Objects 2 (1964), Heretofore (1968), The Nail, to Be Set to Music (1970), Maleficium (1971), and Whichever (1978). He also wrote two verse-plays or “poems in play forms”: The Abortionist and The Corpse, both published in Free Lance. His only full-length collection, Here in The (1976), was published by the Cleveland State Poetry Center. Russell Atkins: On the Life & Work of an American Master (2013), was edited by Kevin Prufer and Michael Dumanis, and included a large selection of Atkins’ previously published work and essays from poets on his continuing influence. World’d Too Much: Selected Poems of Russell Atkins, edited by Kevin Prufer and Robert E. McDonough, was published in 2019.

Some screen captures from the event:

Host Dante Micheaux, with the sign-
language interpreters


The wall of attendees


Russell Atkins


Saturday, February 26, 2022

17th Blogiversary

Somehow, some way, I've made it to 17 years on here. Barely. As post tallies from the last several--7 especially--years have demonstrated, my blogging has dwindled almost to nil, but this period has coincided first with my increasing university workload--I have been a department chair or acting chair now for roughly 8 years, among all of my other duties--alongside all the life itself, so blogging has taken a back seat to all else. 

From 2005 or so, during a trip to DR

When I think back on those early years, which were certainly quite full with teaching, mentoring, writing, some administration, and commuting (between New Jersey and Chicago, for ten straight years!), I fill with amazement that I blogged as frequently as I did. There were, of course, days I missed, but I believe I set for myself the task--the regimen?--of blogging at least one thing every day, with my focus on arts and culture of all kinds (and politics less so because there were, I felt, already so many great political bloggers at the time). It was another form of work, but a labor, unremunerated financially at least, but spiritually and socially to a great degree, of love.

Sometimes what emerged were just announcements for events, but other days produced reviews, translations, reportage, basic documentation, my random street photos, and so on, but it has constituted a (partial) record of my life during those years. I also think of the people I was in contact with, especially early on; the community of bloggers, some friends, some acquaintances, some of them people I'd never met in person and still haven't met in person, but whom I was--and still feel, however ghostly the links today, I am still--in dialogue with, I learned and learn from, I collaborated with, and whose influence I continue to feel, in various ways. I do miss that blogging community, those blogging communities, bloggers, readers, commenters, all--what a time that was!

In recent years I have blogged very infrequently and mostly about my own work, if at all, but I do hope to find the time to blog a bit more, and to find new possibilities for this medium, especially as the net is increasingly a walled off, highly monetized and specialized world, with entire platforms in which words in particular are a second thought. So to blogging, and the future, and I hope to make it to 20 years, and more!