The year in African American poetry, 2023

Here’s a partial list of publications and news items related to African American poets and poetry that caught my attention this past year.

• March: Roger Reeves wins Kingsley Tufts Poetry Award.

• September: Major Jackson wins an Academy of American Poets Fellowship.

• September: Cyrée Jarelle Johnson wins the James Laughlin Award.

• September: Afaa Michael Weaver wins the Wallace Stevens Award. 

• September: Bhion Achimba, Willie Lee Kinard III, and Ariana Benson earn Ruth Lilly & Dorothy Sargent Rosenberg Poetry Fellows.

Volumes of Poetry

• Suddenly We by Evie Shockley 

• My Mouth A Constant Prayer by Angel C. Dye

• Chrome Valley by Mahogany L. Browne

• Above Ground by Clint Smith

• A Fire in the Hills by Afaa Michael Weaver

• So to Speak by Terrance Hayes

• Freedom House by KB Brookins

• Saltwater Demands a Psalm by Kweku Abimbola

• Side Notes from the Archivist by Anastacia-Reneé

Related: 

• Year in African American poetry entries