The Poet’s List: Joshua Bennett

Hometown: Yonkers, NY

Quote: “When I was born, my mother’s smile was so bright it knocked the air from my lungs; and I haven’t been able to breathe right since.” — Joshua Bennett

One Accolade: Performed at the NAACP Image Awards

Joshua Bennett is a performance poet from Yonkers, NY.  He has recited his original works at events and venues such as The Sundance Film Festival, The NAACP Image Awards, The Clinton Global Citizen Awards and President Obama’s Evening of Poetry and Music at the White House. His work has been published, or is forthcoming, in Drunken Boat, Muzzle, Poetry Northeast, Disability Studies Quarterly and Clarion.

A graduate of the University of Pennsylvania, Joshua graduated with the distinctions of Phi Beta Kappa and magna cum laude, after double majoring in English and Africana Studies. He is currently a third-year doctoral candidate in the English Department at Princeton University, where he concentrates primarily in the fields of black studies, disability studies, and ecocriticism.  When he is not writing, reading or performing, Joshua enjoys watching the hit Cartoon Network series, Adventure Time with Finn and Jake and practicing his free throws. He currently shoots about 62% from the line. He’s working on it.