Frequently Featured Authors in African American Review

Our newest episode of Remarkable Receptions focuses on six of the most frequently featured authors in African American Review. Kenton Rambsy and I co-wrote the episode. 

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Related:

• Episodes of Remarkable Receptions

• The Black Literature Network

William J. Harris, the poet as sketch artist

Here's a whiteboard animation on William J. Harris -- poet and sketch artist.

More here: William J. Harris's Notebook sketches

Related:

• William J. Harris and Poetry magazine

William J. Harris and Poetry magazine

Ok, here we go. I'm excited that Poetry magazine gave me the opportunity to curate the folio, “I Hope You Like Being Here with Me: The Work of William J. Harris” for the February 2023 issue. 

To celebrate the occasion, I've produced a few complementary materials related to Harris's work. 

• William J. Harris, the poet as sketch artist

• William J. Harris's Notebook sketches 

• "The Beauty of Bareness" by William J. Harris (whiteboard animation) 

• From Fenton Johnson to William J. Harris: 100 Black Poets in Poetry

Related: 

• A Notebook on William J. Harris

William J. Harris's Notebook sketches

At some point early in the editing process for the folio "I Hope You Like Being Here with Me: The Work of William J. Harris," editors at Poetry asked me if Professor Harris had any materials from notebooks or journals that he might include. I decided to ask. 

Listen, I wasn't fully prepared for the wonderful response. 

It turns out that for years, Professor Harris has been keeping journals, where he produces little drawings and sketches. Often, he draws what interests him at the many museums he visits in New York City. So when I asked him if he had any materials that I might show, he responded with a few snapshots from his journals. 

It's amazing that I've communicated with Professor Harris now for over 20 years and never thought to ask enough questions about his process. I had no idea about those notebooks, those artistic treasures of his. 

I'm glad I know now, and I'm pleased Poetry readers will get a glimpse at his process as well. 

Related:

• William J. Harris and Poetry magazine 

"The Beauty of Bareness" by William J. Harris

 

Here's William J. Harris reading his poem "The Beauty of Bareness." The poem is from a reading in the Wexler Studio at Kelly Writers House, November 5, 2015. The full reading is available on PennSound.

Working with designers, I produced this video, part of a series, to complement the folio on Harris's work appearing in the February 2023 issue of Poetry magazine.

Related:

• William J. Harris and Poetry magazine 

The Most African American literature courses in the Country

Our newest episode of Remarkable Receptions focuses on the large number of African American literature courses that we offer at SIUE. 

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Related:

• Episodes of Remarkable Receptions

• The Black Literature Network

August Wilson

Our newest episode of Remarkable Receptions focuses on August Wilson and adaptations of his works into film. The episode was written by Nicole Dixon. 

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Related:

• Episodes of Remarkable Receptions

• The Black Literature Network

Single-author Books on Black Poetry

Here's a non-exhaustive, checklist of single-author books focusing on Black poetry and poets. 

1976: Drumnvoices: The Mission of Afro-American Poetry: A Critical History by Eugene B. Redmond

1985: The Poetry and Poetics of Amiri Baraka: The Jazz Aesthetic by William J. Harris

1986: The Life of Langston Hughes: Volume I: 1902-1941: I, Too, Sing America by Arnold Rampersad

1988: The Life of Langston Hughes: Volume II: 1941-1967: I Dream a World by Arnold Rampersad

1988: Afro-American Poetics: Revisions of Harlem and the Black Aesthetic by Houston A. Baker, Jr.

1997: Black Chant: Languages of African-American Postmodernism by Aldon Lynn Nielsen

1999: A Nation within a Nation: Amiri Baraka (LeRoi Jones) and Black Power Politics by Komozi Woodard
1999: Dudley Randall, Broadside Press and the Black Arts Movement in Detroit, 1960-1995 Julius E. Thompson
1999: Performing the Word: African American Poetry as Vernacular Culture by Patricia Fahamisha Brown

2000: Extraordinary Measures: Afrocentric Modernism and 20th-Century American Poetry by Lorenzo Thomas

2000: Performing Blackness: Enactments of African-American Modernism by Kimberly W. Benston

2004: Afro-Blue: Improvisations in African American Poetry and Culture by Tony Bolden
2004: Wrestling with the Muse: Dudley Randall and the Broadside Press by Melba Joyce Boyd
2004: "After Mecca": Women Poets and the Black Arts Movement by Cheryl Clarke
2004: Integral Music: Languages of African-American Innovation by Aldon Lynn Nielsen

2004: Wild Blessings: The Poetry of Lucille Clifton by Hilary Holladay