The year in African American poetry, 2012

News and publishing items related to African American poetry that caught my attention this past year.

• December 28: poet Jayne Cortez dies. 

• December 1: Eugene B. Redmond celebrates 75th birthday at gathering in East St. Louis.

• October: The Hungry Ear: Poems of Food and Drink, edited by Kevin Young, is published by Bloomsbury USA.

• October: CM Burroughs's volume The Vital System is published by Tupelo Press.

• October 16: Poets Nikki Giovanni, Maya Angelou, and Joanne Gabbin organize a celebration for Toni Morrison at Virginia Tech.

• October: Poetry magazine, which published several African American poets, celebrated its 100th year of publication.

• August: The Collected Poems of Lucille Clifton 1965-2010 is published by BOA Editions Ltd

• June: Natasha Trethewey is announced as the new U.S. Poet Laureate.

• April: Tracy K. Smith is awarded the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry for her volume Life on Mars.

• March: Kevin Young's book The Grey Album: On the Blackness of Blackness is published by Graywolf Press

• March: Patricia Smith's Shoulda Been Jimi Savannah is published by Coffee House Press.

• February: Richard Wright's Haiku: The Last Poems of an American Icon is reissued by Arcade Publishing.

• February: Monica Hand's volume of poetry me and Nina is published by Alice James Books.

• January: Natasha Trethewey is appointed Mississippi's Poet Laureate.

• January: Marilyn Nelson is awarded the Robert Frost Medal.

• January: Quincy Troupe's volume of poetry Errancities is published by Coffee House Press

• January 1: Elizabeth Alexander begins her "twitter poem project" on twitter.

Related:
The year in African American poetry, 2011
A Timeline of African American Poetry