Monday, January 2, 2012

Blogging about Poetry in 2011

What a year for my work on poetry. For one, my book The Black Arts Enterprise, which focuses on publishing history and modes of production during the Black Arts Movement, was published by the University of Michigan Press. Second, our black studies program continued to organize several mixed media projects, including a major exhibit, on poetry for hundreds of students and general citizens in the region.

And finally, and perhaps most visibly to longtime readers here, I greatly expanded my efforts on this blog to write regularly about African American poetry. Over the last 12 months, I somehow managed to produce more than 200 blog entries on black poetry.  The process was and remains demanding and exciting.

There's really no easy way for me to sum up the highlights of what I blogged about in 2011. I'm not sure I had a solid focus; poetry subjects took me all over the place. I covered issues related to the significance of poet birth years, the value of the Poetry Foundation site as a resource for blogging, my focus on 30 Days of Black Arts Poetry, and dozens of writings on individual poets.

Blogging about poetry made it possible for me to connect with readers in ways that were far less possible than my writings for journals and books. I am certainly not abandoning those traditional modes of writing and publishing, but my increased blogging has provided me with an alternative outlet as well as useful ways of transmitting ideas about poetry. Right now, I'm thinking (and planning to later write) about how blogging has affected my approaches to producing scholarship on African American poetry.

In the meantime, below, I'm providing the full list of my blog entries on poetry and related matters. I've also included entries by some of my black studies contributors who publish here. In a future post, I'll condense the list, highlighting specific topics that might be of special interest to readers.  Thanks for reading.

Blog Entries on Poetry in 2011

December 
• December 31: The Year in African American Poetry: A Chronology
• December  30: Sanchez, Black Arts Poet, Appointed Poet Laureate of Philly
• December 30: Reading Black & Radically: A Brief Reflection 
• December 30: The Coverage of Rita Dove's Anthology
• December  29: Calvin Forbes's "Talking Blues," a Favorite in 2011
• December 29: Blogging & Linking to Poetry Foundation Site in 2011
• December 28: The Poetry Foundation Site as a Vital Resource
• December 27: An Extended Notebook on the works of writers, artists & cultural workers
• December 27: Objectification and History in Derek Walcott's Omeros by Emily Phillips
• December  27: The Coverage of Michael Eric Dyson's Jay-Z Course
• December  27: A Notebook on the work of Kevin Young
• December 26: A Notebook on the work of Allison Joseph
• December 26: A Notebook on the work of Margaret Walker
• December 26: A Notebook on the Work of Evie Shockley
• December  26: Poetry News Coverage in 2011
• December 20: The Case for Kevin Young's Ardency
• December  19: African American Poetry on 2011 Best of Lists
• December 16: How Age Matters in the 'Rap as Poetry' Debate
• December  16: 100-plus Poems I Read & Re-Read (online) in 2011
• December 14: The Empowering Possibilities of Black Boys Writing, Reciting Rhymes
• December 13: Notes on the Black Books Book Sale
• December 12: Poetry & the black national anthem at the Presidential Inauguration
• December 10: Collegiate Black Men, Rap, and Poetry
• December 10: Blogging about Poetry in November 2011 
• December 9: Eugene B. Redmond: A Human Vertex By Cindy Lyles
• December 9: Divas of the 20th Century Awards Ceremony By Danielle Hall
• December 8: Poster for A 1974 Poetry Festival
• December 7: Notes on Adrian Matejka's "Fisticuffs"
• December  7: Katherine Dunham & EBR Digital Collection  By Danielle Hall
• December 7: Communal Inspirations & the EBR Digital Collection By Clarissa Richee
• December 6: Background on Eugene B. Redmond's Extensive Photographic Work
• December 5: Ntozake Shange & the EBR Digital Collection By Danielle Hall
• December 5: Metro East & the EBR Digital Collection By Clarissa Richee
• December 5: Redmond, Dunham & the EBR Digital Collection By Cindy Lyles
• December 5: Utilizing the EBR Digital Collection
• December 5: The EBR Digital Collection
• December 5: A Long Walk with Adrian Matejka & Jack Johnson 
• December 4: Recent Rap as Poetry Debates, Conversations
• December 3: The Poet as Essayist: Rita Dove's Response to Helen Vendler
• December 2: Margaret Walker, Struggle & Poetry magazine in the late 1930s
• December 1: A Renegade Woman: Margaret Walker's "Kissie Lee" by Cindy Lyles

November
• November 30: Verbal Effects and Margaret Walker's "Molly Means" Clarissa Richee
• November 29: Responses to Margaret Walker's "For My People"
• November 29: Amiri Baraka's "Digging" - A Powerful Jazz Tribute
• November 28: 10 Poems by Margaret Walker
• November 28: Margaret Walker Week
• November 26: Why the Coverage of Poets Matters
• November 25: Why Poetry Awards Matter
• November 23: Adam Bradley on Common's Creative Process
• November 23: College classes on "The Wire" and Jay-Z
• November 22: From L. Clifton to N. Finney: Achievements of Black Women Poets
• November 21: Places Poets Love
• November 21: Nikky Finney, Facebook & Youtube
• November 19: Some of Adrian Matejka's Jack Johnson poems (online)
• November 19: Reflecting on “From Profit To Prophecy” by Dometi Pongo
• November 19: Redmond Reading at Lovejoy Library
• November 18: Nikky Finney's Poetry-Prose Voice
• November 17: Notes on Memorable Lines from Kevin Young's "Bereavement"
• November 17: Coverage of Nikky Finney's Big Win
• November 16: Winning & Losing Awards, Gaining Prestige in Poetry
• November 15: Ebony magazine & Black Arts Poetry
• November 14: Eric Ruckh & Jeffrey Skoblow Read "Howl" at the Underground
• November 14: Online responses to poem by Reginald Dwayne Betts
• November 14: My First Book Blues
• November 13: Notes on My First Book Signing
• November 12: Jay-Z, Adam Bradley, & the Rap-Poetry Conversations
• November 9; A Notebook on the Work of Amiri Baraka
• November 7: Blogging about Poetry in October 2011
• November 6: 10 Poets who gained widespread attention in their 20s
• November 4: A Prelude to Rita Dove's Anthology?
• November 3: A Notebook on the work of Nikky Finney
• November 2: A Notebook on the work of Rachel Eliza Griffiths
• November 2: Rachel Eliza Griffiths as Zora Neale Hurston's Janie
• November 2: A Poet Channeling the Work of Black Women Novelists
• November 2: And She's a Poet: Rachel Eliza Griffiths
• November 2: Online Poems By Rachel Eliza Griffiths
• November 2: And She's a Photographer: Rachel Eliza Griffiths

October
• October 31: Notes on Derek Walcott's Omeros By Emily Phillips
• October 30: Redmond, Baraka & Multi-directional Approaches to Poetry
• October 27: Adrian Matejka & Amiri Baraka
• October 27: Dometi Pongo at the Black Verse Exhibit
• October 27: Black Verse: An Exhibit
• October 24: Cole World: Message to the Grassroots By Dometi Pongo
• October 21: The X Image
• October 20: Knowledge-building Images from the Exhibit
• October 19: The Process of Creating a Poetry Exhibit
• October 18: A Glimpse at the Black Verse Exhibit 
• October 16: Handwritten & Typed Versions of Rhymes by Dometi Pongo
• October 16: Black Verse flyer 
• October 15: Installation of African American Poetry exhibit
• October 15: Black Verse: An Exhibit
• October 15: Decoding Evie Shockley's "mesostics..." Pt. 3 by Cindy Lyles
• October 14: Evie Shockley’s “On New Year’s Eve" by Clarissa Richee
• October 13: Decoding Evie Shockley's “mesostics..." Pt. 2 by Cindy Lyles
• October 13: Eric Ruckh & Jeffrey Skoblow Celebrate "Howl"
• October 12: Blogging about Evie Shockley by Howard Rambsy II 
• October 11: Evie Shockley's “my life as china” by Clarissa Richee
• October 10: Decoding Evie Shockley’s “mesostics..." Pt. 1 By Cindy Lyles
• October 10: Evie Shockley Week
• October 9: Blogging about Poetry in September 2011
• October 8: The Writer as Runner: Allison Joseph
• October 7: 20 Poems by Allison Joseph
• October 7: Allison Joseph and Productivity in Poetry
• October 6: "Bio Note" By Allison Joseph By Clarissa Richee
• October 6: Rick Ross and the Streets By Dometi Pongo
• October 5: The Poet Showdown: “Prompt” by Allison Joseph By Cindy Lyles
• October 4: Blogging about Allison Joseph's Work
• October 4: “Elegy for the Person Letter” by Allison Joseph By Clarissa Richee
• October 3: Allison Joseph & Paradoxes: An Introduction By Stacey Lynn Brown
• October 3: Allison Joseph Week
• October 2: Amiri Baraka, Lil Wayne & Mainstream, Underground Audiences
• October 2: The Rising Visibility of Black Women Poets
• October 1: Summarizing a Worldview in Nikki Giovanni’s “Nikki-Rosa” by Cindy Lyles 


September 
• September 30: Reginald Dwayne Betts's 'Big Word' Love Poem & the Poetry Podcast
• September 30: 100 Black Arts Era Poems
• September 29: The Black Arts Enterprise...Arrives
• September 29: Resources on the histories of Black Arts Poetry
• September 28: The Decline of a Movement, the legacies of Black Arts Poetry
• September 27:  Black Arts Poetry & Afrofuturism
• September  26: 5 Ways Black Arts Poets Challenged Anti-Black Racism
• September 25 :  10 Essential Essays by Black Arts Era Poets
• September  24: Coordinators Guide Young People on Tour of Poetry
• September  24: Poetry as Mixed Media Enterprise
• September  24: Women Writers & Black Arts Poetry
• September 23: Haki Madhubuti & the New Black Poetry
• September  22: 10 John Coltrane Poems by Poets of the Black Arts Era
• September  21: 15 Malcolm X Poems by Poets of the Black Arts Era
• September  20: Black Pride & Black Arts Poetry
• September  19: A Look at Margaret Walker's "For Malcolm X" [By Clarissa Richee]
• September  19: Drumvoices: A Remarkable History of Black, American Poetry
• September  18: Toni Morrison & Black Arts Poetry
• September  17: Black Arts Poets as Performers and Recording Artists
• September  16: “sCReeeEEECHHHHHH”: Black Arts Poets Chasing John Coltrane
• September  15: Dudley Randall & Broadside Press
• September  14: Bridging the Gap – Notes on “Murder to Excellence” [By D. A. Pongo]
• September 14: 10 Black Arts Era Poems 
• September  13: Poets as Essayists During the Black Arts Era  
• September  12: Older Generations of Writers & 'New' Black Poetry
• September  11: 5 Reasons You Want to Know about Jessica Care Moore 
• September  11: 30 Anthologies featuring Black Poetry, 1968-1975
• September  10: Jazz & Black Arts Poetry
• September  9: Africa & Black Arts Poetry
• September  8: From a 'Black Art' poem to 'The Black Arts Movement'
• September 7 : 10 Key African American Poems
• September 7: Nikki Giovanni & Black Arts Poetry
• September 6: Malcolm as Muse
• September 5: 5 Labor Day Poems
• September 5: 6 Ways Black Arts Era Anthologies Shaped Black Literary History 
• September 4: The Black Panther Party, Black Drama, & Black Arts Poets
• September 3: Amiri Baraka: A Leading Black Arts Figure 
• September 3: How Different Audiences Create Different Kinds of Black Poetry
• September 2: Blogging about Poetry in August
• September 2: Negro Digest / Black World magazine & Poetry 
• September 1: 30 Days of Black Arts Poetry 

August
• August 27: Sonia Sanchez’s morning haiku [By C. Lyles]
• August 26: Jazz, Cultural Capital, and Black Poetry
• August 22: Encountering Poems by Langston Hughes in Comic Strips
• August 22: Evie Shockley's "improper(ty) behavior"
• August 18: The Poet (Tracie Morris) vs. the Rappers (of East St. Louis)
• August 15: The Strength of Weak Ties in Nikky Finney's Sonnet Sequence
• August 14: Black Poetry published by Graywolf Press
• August 13: When Black Poetry Isn't Written & Published, Does It Count?
• August 10: 10 Poems by African American Poets on Poemflow
• August 9: Rachel Eliza Griffiths's Trailer for her Upcoming Book of Poems
• August 7: Elizabeth Alexander's "The Venus Hottentot" during the 1990s
• August 6: Jerry W. Ward as My Gateway Guide to Poetry during the 1990s
• August 5: C. Liegh McInnis's 1990s Groundwork in Mississippi
• August 5: Jessica Care Moore at the Apollo
• August 4: Some Volumes of Poetry Published During the 1990s
• August 3: 10 Books of Collected Works by African American Poets from the 1990s
• August 2: 10 Notable African American Anthologies Feat. Poetry from the 1990s
• August 1: African American Poetry During the 1990s: Some notable occurrences
• August 1: Blogging about Poetry in July 2011
 
July 
 • July 31:  Working out, listening to Robert Creeley
• July 30: Jill Scott & Erykah Badu: From Spoken Word to R&B
• July 29: How Black Poets Challenged Literary Conventions
• July 27: Poets Who Read vs. Poets Who Perform
• July 25: Spoken Word Poetry & Black Intellectual Histories
• July 25: A Poet, A Rapper, and His Notebooks
• July 22: 5 Animated poems by African American poets
• July 21: Black Poetry published by Norton and Company
• July 19: 10 Poems (with Audio) by Black Poets on Poets.Org site
•July 17: Marking up Robert Hayden's "Frederick Douglass"
• July 16: 8 Lessons, Insights from the Sonia Sanchez Seminar
• July 15: Eugene B. Redmond and the EBR Collection
• July 15: Smartphones and Black Poetry: Some Preliminary Impressions
• July 14: Langston Hughes in Poetry magazine
• July 14: "We Real Cool" & "For My People" First Appeared in Poetry Mag.
• July 13: The Journey of Margaret Walker's "For My People"
• July 12: 4 Langston Hughes poems from 1926 Poetry Magazine
• July 10: Eugene B. Redmond's Epic East St. Louis Poem
• July 7: Black Poetry at the Strand Bookstore
• July 6: When Print, Performance & Online Cultures Converge: Amiri Baraka's "Dope"
• July 6: 10 Amiri Baraka poems on youtube
• July 5: 104 African American Volumes of Poetry by Publisher, 2000-2011
• July 4: Keeping Poetry Alive in Mississippi: C. Liegh McInnis
• July 3: Eugene Redmond and the Ghosts of Dunham, Hurston, & Schomburg
• July 2: Blogging about Black Verse in June 2011           
• July 1:  Evie Shockley's "ode to my blackness"

June
• June 30: Tyehimba Jess & Treasure Williams on Anti-Black Racism as Ugly Envy
• June 30: The Folk Consciousness of Tyehimba Jess & Treasure Williams
• June 28: The Remarkable Ingenuity (and indifference) of Amiri Baraka
• June 26: 5 Reasons Kevin Young's Ardency Matters
• June 23: Calvin Forbes Shines Some light on Raccoon in Poetry Magazine
• June 22: Black Studies Contributors Attend Sonia Sanchez Seminar
• June 21: Pleasant Surprises: Thomas Sayers Ellis, Nikki Giovanni & Poetry Magazine
• June 20: Teleportation & Hughes's "Negro Speaks of Rivers": An Afrofuturist Reading
• June 19: 20 Poems (with Audio) by Black Poets on the Poetry Foundation Site
• June 16: 25 Things to do with Robert Hayden’s “Frederick Douglass”
• June 14: Marilyn Nelson's Carver as a Crucial Connector
• June 13: Nikky Finney's George Bush Sonnet Sequence, Pt. 1
• June 11: Malcolm X--Verbal Artist & Muse
• June 3: Poetry as Passport: Getting to Other Worlds through Translations
• June 1: Toward a Recent Intellectual History of Consciousness in Rap: Jay Electronica 

May
•  May 31: Gil Scott-Heron and the Poetry, Rap (Dis)Connection
• May 30: 150+ Years of Antislavery Poems by Black Poets
• May 28: Gil Scott's Role in an Untelevised Revolution
• May 26: 104 Volumes of African American Poetry, 2000-2011
• May 23: Teenage Black Girls, "Ego Tripping," and African American Literary History
• May 21: A Poet Laureate (Always) at Work
• May 20: Langston Hughes, Nikki Giovanni, & Black Poetry Placement Power
• May 19: The Rewards of Memorizing Haiku
• May  19: The Golden (Birth) Years of Rappers
• May 18: The Rise & Fall of Signature Poems
• May 17: From Rapper to Poet to Hip Hop Head: The Sagas of Treasure Williams
• May 16: Black Arts Enterprise--Promo
• May 14: The Value of Skeptical Poets: Notes on Dwayne Betts
• May 8: Blogging about Black Poetry -- 2009 & 2008
• May 8: Blogging about Black Poetry -- 2010
• May 7: Kevin Young & the Langston Hughes Connection
• May 6: Blogging about Black Verse -- 2011 
• May 6: 10 Poems by Evie Shockley
• May 6: The Enviable Persistence of Poet Allison Joseph
•  May 4: From Popular Black Poets to Public Intellectuals
• May 3: A Pre-future of black writing: some notations

April 
• April 29: Evie Shockley and This Douglass Poetry Discourse
• April 23: Images of Black Writers in Mainstream Publications
• April  19: Memorizing Phillis Wheatley's "On Being Brought from Africa to America"
• April 18: Memorizing Robert Hayden's "Frederick Douglass"
• April 14: Rita Dove Addresses "Racist Selectivity"
• April 11: Memorizing Kelly Norman Ellis's "Raised by Women"
• April 11: Following Poetry Scholars
• April 4: Tyehimba Jess & the Persona of a Blind Black Man
• April 2: 10 Poems by Kevin Young
• April 2: Nikky Finney's Reading Style
• April 2: How Public are Poets?
• April 2:  Nikky Finney and her Audience

March
• March 22: Why the Birth Years of Black Poets Matter
• March 14: Nikky Finney, Nikki Giovanni, & the Black Poetry Best Seller List 
•  March 10: The Signed Mixology and For Show Mixology
• March 10: Allison Joseph's Presence Among our 100 books
• March 10: 100 Volumes of Poetry
• March 7: Kevin Young Representing Cinque
• March 5: Treasure Williams and the Arkansippi Effect

February 
• Feb. 28: Evie Shockley Addresses Thomas Jefferson
• Feb. 21: Exhibit on Haki Madhubuti      
• Feb. 16: The Visual Experience of Evie Shockley’s the new black
• Feb. 16: Mixed Media Poetry Project @ William Woods University
•   Feb. 15: Treasure Williams Channels Fannie Lou Hamer in STL
• Feb. 15: Presenting Poetry & Photos at St. Louis Community College 
• Feb. 7: Multi-threaded Comments on Kevin Young’s Ardency
• Feb. 7: The Coverage of Kevin Young’s Ardency 
• Feb. 7: The Design and Structure of Ardency
• Feb. 7: Kevin Young’s Expansive Body of Work

January 
•  Jan. 29: Treasure Williams on Fannie Lou Hamer on Facebook
• Jan. 29: The Contemporary Poet as Historical Researcher
• Jan. 24: Books by K. Warren, E. Shockley, & K. Young
• Jan. 14: Black Studies & Alternate Personas

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