The Latest

Oakland selected poet, playwright and community activist Ayodele Nzinga as the city’s inaugural poet laureate, city officials announced this week.Nzinga is the founding producer and director of the West Oakland theater company Lower Bottom Playaz, established in 1999. She’s also the founding director of Black Arts Movement Business District Community Development Corporation, which produces BAMBDFEST, … Continue reading Oakland’s Poet Laureate: Ayodele Nzinga chosen for inaugural post (via East Bay Express) →

June is Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) Awareness Month. One psychiatrist is dedicating a portion of the proceeds from his new book, Poetry Rx, to the David Lynch Foundation (DLF)—specifically the Resilient Warrior program—in the hopes of curbing US military veteran suicides.In this Q&A, we speak with author of Poetry Rx, Norman E. Rosenthal, MD. Dr Rosenthal is a world-renowned psychiatrist and … Continue reading Poetry for PTSD and Preventing Suicide (via Psychiatric Times) →

Topping the headlines again, Arizona State University Associate Professor Natalie Diaz has been awarded the 2021 Pulitzer Prize in Poetry for her collection “Postcolonial Love Poem,” which has been described as “an anthem of desire against erasure.”The honor comes mere months after the MacArthur Fellow made history by becoming the youngest chancellor ever elected to the Academy of American … Continue reading Poet Natalie Diaz wins Pulitzer Prize (via ASU News) →

Caleb Femi, the former young people’s laureate for London, has been shortlisted for one of the prestigious Forward prizes for poetry for his first collection Poor, an exploration of growing up Black in Peckham.Femi, a former English teacher who took on the laureate role in 2016, is one of five first-time poets in the running for the … Continue reading Forward poetry prizes shortlist former young people’s laureate Caleb Femi (via Guardian) →

For years Wayne Brady had been working on a one-man show about being a young Black man growing up in Orlando, but he could never finish the project.That's until acclaimed actor Glenn Close asked him to participate in her spoken word jazz album."To be honest with you, the reason it took me a couple of … Continue reading Wayne Brady, his Black experience and his new spoken-word piece (via Daily Herald) →