WHAT IS RRR? Reading Resolution Round-Up.
WHAT IS RRR? It's a challenge to myself and to you. In 2017 and beyond, let's read more inclusively. Let's be better allies.
BUT WHAT IS RRR? Each month I'll will be actively seeking out poets whose voices have been historically marginalized (EX: PoC, LGBTQIAP+, women, immigrants, Muslims, refugees, ETC.) and I will share a round-up of what I've been reading. Expect relatively little commentary from me. This series is about their voices, not mine. Read more about this project in January's Letter from the Editor.
WHAT DID YOU READ LAST MONTH? Here's what I read in January.
What a whirlwind month! I had the fortunate opportunity to follow up on January's RRR post by being able to hear Danez Smith and Oliver Baez Bendorf read at AWP events. (BOTH SO SO INCREDIBLE.) I also bought Samiya Bashir's book Field Studies from the NightBoat Books AWP booth....from Kazim Ali! (Who is incredibly nice, by the way.) I also had the opportunity to learn more about Sibling Rivalry Press (which published Christopher Soto, featured last month) and their current collections. Although I didn't get to hear Ocean Vuong read at AWP (sobs), I do have the comfort of knowing I was in the same gigantic conference center as him for three days. So there's that.
****
FEBRUARY: Aracelis Girmay, Tim Seibles, Hanif Willis-Abdurraqib, Sarah Kay, Nicole Homer, Claudia Rankine, Brenda Shaughnessy, T Fleischmann, Vievee Francis, and Jamaal May.
1. Aracelis Girmay
via BOA Editions
I was able to hear Aracelis Girmay read the the Split this Rock/BOA Editions sponsored reading at AWP and I cannot even begin to describe the experience. It was intense, complex, painful, and so, so beautiful. I immediately bought two of her books: The Black Maria and Kingdom Animalia. I cannot recommend Girmay enough. Start with this excerpt from "The Black Maria" from Poetry.
The fight, first, to open, then to breathe,
& then to close. Each of us entering the world
& entering the world like this.
Soft. Unlikely. Then —
the idiosyncratic minds & verbs.
Beloveds, making your ways
to & away from us, always, across the centuries
**
2. Tim Seibles
via Etruscan Press
I heard Tim Seibles read the Split this Rock/BOA Editions AWP reading as well. (This reading as fire, by the way. Danez Smith also read.) His work cuts to the heart of racial tension, violence, and inequality in America. He also has a wonderful reading voice that molds itself around the shifting tones in his work. Start with his poem "Mosaic" available from Poetry.
In America skin was
where you belonged, a who
you were with, a reason
someone might: how — at the
parties of hands unknown —
astonishing deaths
could meet you.
**
3. Hanif Willis-Abdurraqib
via Button Poetry
I heard Hanif Willis-Abdurraqib perform at the Page Meets Stage event at AWP and....guys, I can't even describe how good it was. His book, The Crown Ain't Worth Much is out through Button Poetry, and I suggest you check it out. There's a lot of Youtube footage floating around of his performances, too. Here is a list of his published work available online. Check it out.
**
4. Sarah Kay
via Write Bloody
I also heard Sarah Kay perform at the Page Meets Stage event at AWP. I think I almost cried in the third row at one point because it was so overwhelmingly good. Start with the one that went crazy viral: If I Should Have a Daughter. (I linked to the text, but her performance is not to be missed and can be easily found on YouTube.) And then watch all her videos here.
**
5. Nicole Homer
via Write Bloody
Nicole Homer is a poet I ALSO say perform at the Page Meets Stage event at AWP. Spoiler alert: she is also an incredible poet, and her performance left me in awe. Here is video to her poem "Motherhood". And here is a link to all her published work available online.
**
6. Claudia Rankine
via Graywolf Press
I mean, do I even need to sell you on Rankine's Citizen? It is so necessary that if you haven't read it, you need to go read it ASAP. It is a masterpiece.
because white men can't
police their imagination
black men are dying
**
7. Brenda Shaughnessy
via Copper Canyon Press
I have been a fangirl of Brenda Shaughnessy since my freshman year in college and I have never, ever looked back. I got to be in the same room as her at AWP and it was beautiful. You should read all her work, but you can start with her poem "I'm Over the Moon" (warning: intense lfeatured on the Poetry Foundation.
**
via Sarabande Books
I read T Fleischmann's book Syzygy, Beauty, after picking it up from the Sarabande Books booth at AWP. It's a nonfiction essay in (what I view as) prose poem units and it's incredible. I'm including the book synopsis from Sarabande Books' website below because they say it best:
"The word “syzygy” refers at once to the alignment of celestial bodies in astronomy, repeating relationships in mathematics, and male/female pairings in Gnosticism. T Fleischmann’s Syzygy, Beauty, then, is an essay ordered by complimentary needs: art criticism, the narrator's construction of a house, and the direct address of a lover. Playing with scale and repetition, the speaker keeps us off-center, and therefore always looking, as we are lead through an intimate relationship that is complicated and deepened by multiple partners, gender transitions, and itinerancy. In language both plainspoken and startling, Fleischmann attempts a reconciliation between the sadness and beauty that come with a love that must always be, in some ways, distant."
**
9. Vievee Francis
via Northwestern University Press
I hadn't heard of Vievee Francis until I encountered her on a panel at AWP, but boy am I so, so glad I did. She rescued a panel about sentimentality in women's writing from the clutches of white feminism and overall said some incredibly powerful things about femininity and what it means to be a black woman. Check out an interview with her on Muzzle, and then read one of her poems published on Rattle.
**
10. Jamaal May
via Alice James Books
I picked up Jamaal May's book The Big Book of Exit Strategies from the Alice James Books booth at AWP during their stellar Saturday sale, and I was not disappointed. Check out his poem "There Are Birds Here" published in Poetry for starters.
WHAT DID YOU READ LAST MONTH? Here's what I read in January.
What a whirlwind month! I had the fortunate opportunity to follow up on January's RRR post by being able to hear Danez Smith and Oliver Baez Bendorf read at AWP events. (BOTH SO SO INCREDIBLE.) I also bought Samiya Bashir's book Field Studies from the NightBoat Books AWP booth....from Kazim Ali! (Who is incredibly nice, by the way.) I also had the opportunity to learn more about Sibling Rivalry Press (which published Christopher Soto, featured last month) and their current collections. Although I didn't get to hear Ocean Vuong read at AWP (sobs), I do have the comfort of knowing I was in the same gigantic conference center as him for three days. So there's that.
FEBRUARY: Aracelis Girmay, Tim Seibles, Hanif Willis-Abdurraqib, Sarah Kay, Nicole Homer, Claudia Rankine, Brenda Shaughnessy, T Fleischmann, Vievee Francis, and Jamaal May.
1. Aracelis Girmay
I was able to hear Aracelis Girmay read the the Split this Rock/BOA Editions sponsored reading at AWP and I cannot even begin to describe the experience. It was intense, complex, painful, and so, so beautiful. I immediately bought two of her books: The Black Maria and Kingdom Animalia. I cannot recommend Girmay enough. Start with this excerpt from "The Black Maria" from Poetry.
**
 |
| via BOA Editions |
I was able to hear Aracelis Girmay read the the Split this Rock/BOA Editions sponsored reading at AWP and I cannot even begin to describe the experience. It was intense, complex, painful, and so, so beautiful. I immediately bought two of her books: The Black Maria and Kingdom Animalia. I cannot recommend Girmay enough. Start with this excerpt from "The Black Maria" from Poetry.
The fight, first, to open, then to breathe,
& then to close. Each of us entering the world
& entering the world like this.
Soft. Unlikely. Then —
the idiosyncratic minds & verbs.
Beloveds, making your ways
to & away from us, always, across the centuries
**
2. Tim Seibles
I heard Tim Seibles read the Split this Rock/BOA Editions AWP reading as well. (This reading as fire, by the way. Danez Smith also read.) His work cuts to the heart of racial tension, violence, and inequality in America. He also has a wonderful reading voice that molds itself around the shifting tones in his work. Start with his poem "Mosaic" available from Poetry.
 |
| via Etruscan Press |
I heard Tim Seibles read the Split this Rock/BOA Editions AWP reading as well. (This reading as fire, by the way. Danez Smith also read.) His work cuts to the heart of racial tension, violence, and inequality in America. He also has a wonderful reading voice that molds itself around the shifting tones in his work. Start with his poem "Mosaic" available from Poetry.
In America skin was
where you belonged, a who
you were with, a reason
someone might: how — at the
parties of hands unknown —
astonishing deaths
could meet you.
**
3. Hanif Willis-Abdurraqib
I heard Hanif Willis-Abdurraqib perform at the Page Meets Stage event at AWP and....guys, I can't even describe how good it was. His book, The Crown Ain't Worth Much is out through Button Poetry, and I suggest you check it out. There's a lot of Youtube footage floating around of his performances, too. Here is a list of his published work available online. Check it out.
**
 |
| via Button Poetry |
I heard Hanif Willis-Abdurraqib perform at the Page Meets Stage event at AWP and....guys, I can't even describe how good it was. His book, The Crown Ain't Worth Much is out through Button Poetry, and I suggest you check it out. There's a lot of Youtube footage floating around of his performances, too. Here is a list of his published work available online. Check it out.
**
4. Sarah Kay
I also heard Sarah Kay perform at the Page Meets Stage event at AWP. I think I almost cried in the third row at one point because it was so overwhelmingly good. Start with the one that went crazy viral: If I Should Have a Daughter. (I linked to the text, but her performance is not to be missed and can be easily found on YouTube.) And then watch all her videos here.
**
 |
| via Write Bloody |
I also heard Sarah Kay perform at the Page Meets Stage event at AWP. I think I almost cried in the third row at one point because it was so overwhelmingly good. Start with the one that went crazy viral: If I Should Have a Daughter. (I linked to the text, but her performance is not to be missed and can be easily found on YouTube.) And then watch all her videos here.
**
5. Nicole Homer
Nicole Homer is a poet I ALSO say perform at the Page Meets Stage event at AWP. Spoiler alert: she is also an incredible poet, and her performance left me in awe. Here is video to her poem "Motherhood". And here is a link to all her published work available online.
**
 |
| via Write Bloody |
Nicole Homer is a poet I ALSO say perform at the Page Meets Stage event at AWP. Spoiler alert: she is also an incredible poet, and her performance left me in awe. Here is video to her poem "Motherhood". And here is a link to all her published work available online.
**
6. Claudia Rankine
I mean, do I even need to sell you on Rankine's Citizen? It is so necessary that if you haven't read it, you need to go read it ASAP. It is a masterpiece.
 |
| via Graywolf Press |
because white men can't
police their imagination
black men are dying
police their imagination
black men are dying
**
7. Brenda Shaughnessy
I have been a fangirl of Brenda Shaughnessy since my freshman year in college and I have never, ever looked back. I got to be in the same room as her at AWP and it was beautiful. You should read all her work, but you can start with her poem "I'm Over the Moon" (warning: intense lfeatured on the Poetry Foundation.
**
 |
| via Copper Canyon Press |
**
 |
| via Sarabande Books |
"The word “syzygy” refers at once to the alignment of celestial bodies in astronomy, repeating relationships in mathematics, and male/female pairings in Gnosticism. T Fleischmann’s Syzygy, Beauty, then, is an essay ordered by complimentary needs: art criticism, the narrator's construction of a house, and the direct address of a lover. Playing with scale and repetition, the speaker keeps us off-center, and therefore always looking, as we are lead through an intimate relationship that is complicated and deepened by multiple partners, gender transitions, and itinerancy. In language both plainspoken and startling, Fleischmann attempts a reconciliation between the sadness and beauty that come with a love that must always be, in some ways, distant."**
9. Vievee Francis
I hadn't heard of Vievee Francis until I encountered her on a panel at AWP, but boy am I so, so glad I did. She rescued a panel about sentimentality in women's writing from the clutches of white feminism and overall said some incredibly powerful things about femininity and what it means to be a black woman. Check out an interview with her on Muzzle, and then read one of her poems published on Rattle.
**
 |
| via Northwestern University Press |
**
10. Jamaal May
I picked up Jamaal May's book The Big Book of Exit Strategies from the Alice James Books booth at AWP during their stellar Saturday sale, and I was not disappointed. Check out his poem "There Are Birds Here" published in Poetry for starters.
|
| via Alice James Books |
I picked up Jamaal May's book The Big Book of Exit Strategies from the Alice James Books booth at AWP during their stellar Saturday sale, and I was not disappointed. Check out his poem "There Are Birds Here" published in Poetry for starters.
****
****
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