Furious Flower IV: The Worlds of Black Poetry

E. Ethelbert Miller and Fred Joiner on who gets to be a Black writer, giving birth to a new generation of critics, and baseball. Mentioned in this episode: In Search of Color Everywhere: A Collection of African-American Poetry edited by E. Ethelbert Miller Beyond the Frontier: African-American Poetry for the 21st Century edited by E. Ethelbert Miller “Winter in America” by Gil Scott-Heron “Party For Your Right To Fight” by Public Enemy “Say It Loud – I’m Black and I’m Proud” by James Brown “Today’s News” by Elizabeth Alexander Giant Talk: An Anthology of Third World Writings edited by Quincy Troupe and Rainer Schulte “Girlfriend” by Lori Tsang Dynamite Voices: Black Poets of the 1960s by Haki R. Madhubuti “Up and Down” by E. Ethelbert Miller

Harryette Mullen and Chet’la Sebree on hidden histories, the plagues we live through, and (ahem) “dick’s tight hat band.” Mentioned in this episode: “Elliptical” from Sleeping With the Dictionary by Harryette Mullen Native Guard by Natasha Trethewey Olio by Tyehimba Jess The Age of Phillis by Honorée Fannone Jeffers “Hotter Than July” from Regaining Unconsciousness by Harryette Mullen and Hotter Than July by Stevie Wonder “Elegy for What Once Slept in a Cage” from Teeth Never Sleep by Ángel García

Kwame Dawes and Ama Codjoe on young African poets finding their voices, the mistakes of English classes, and what Lionel Messi has to do with writing poetry.

Nikky Finney and Danez Smith on “Negroes with guns,” underwater cameras, and getting out of our lanes as the temperatures rise. Mentioned in this episode: “Negroes With Guns” from Head Off & Split by Nikky Finney Negroes With Guns by Robert F. Williams “Topless in America” by Nikky Finney “Nikky Finney on Pencils” from KYwriters on youtube.com Lessons for Survival: Mothering Against “The Apocalypse” by Emily Raboteau On Wings Made of Gauze by Nikkey Finney Nikky Finney’s 2011 National Book Award for Poetry acceptance speech

Elizabeth Alexander and Nicole Sealey on the treasures of archives, the work of a generation, and the resonant truth you feel in your bones. Mentioned in this episode: “Praise Song for the Day” from Crave Radiance: New and Selected Poems 1990-2010 by Elizabeth Alexander “Tina Green” from American Sublime by Elizabeth Alexander “Ars Poetica #100: I Believe” from American Sublime by Elizabeth Alexander “Paul Robeson” by Gwendolyn Brooks “The Trayvon Generation” by Elizabeth Alexander “One Art” from The Complete Poems 1926-1979 by Elizabeth Bishop “Hayden in the Archive” from Crave Radiance: New and Selected Poems 1990-2010 by Elizabeth Alexander “Toomer” from Crave Radiance: New and Selected Poems 1990-2010 by Elizabeth Alexander “Stokely and Adam” from Crave Radiance: New and Selected Poems 1990-2010 by Elizabeth Alexander “In the Small Rooms” by Elizabeth Alexander “In D.C.” Crave Radiance: New and Selected Poems 1990-2010 by Elizabeth Alexander “Fugue” from Body of Life by Elizabeth Alexander “Body of Life” from Body of Life by Elizabeth Alexander “The Negro Artist and the Racial Mountain” by Langston Hughes From Slavery to Freedom: A History of African Americans by John Hope Franklin “The Elders” Crave Radiance: New and Selected Poems 1990-2010 by Elizabeth Alexander “Rally” from Crave Radiance: New and Selected Poems 1990-2010 by Elizabeth Alexander “Five Elegies” from American Sublime by Elizabeth Alexander “Personal History” by Adrienne Su

Niyi Osundare and Gbenga Adesina on talking to trees, the poetics of Yoruba, and carrying the weight of our fathers. Mentioned in this episode: “Invocation” from Green: Sighs of Our Ailing Planet by Niyi Osundare The Eye of the Earth by Niyi Osundare Death and the King's Horseman by Wole Soyinka Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe Painter of Water by Gbenga Adesina Songs of the Marketplace by Niyi Osundare “I Carried My Father Across the Sea” by Gbenga Adesina

Cornelius Eady with Clemonce Heard on jazz solos, memorializing Black deaths, and the whispers that filled his high school hallways after the first poem he ever wrote. Mentioned in this episode: “Gratitude” by Cornelius Eady from The Gathering of My Name Catalog of Unabashed Gratitude by Ross Gay “The Dance” by Cornelius Eady “Atomic Prayer” by Cornelius Eady from The Gathering of My Name “Father Figures” released October 10, 2022 by BBC The Documentary “Perry” written and sung by Cornelius Eady with The Cornelius Eady Trio The Poet and the Poem with Grace Cavalieri 2021 - 2022 series, episode with Cornelius Eady “Rodney King Blues” by Cornelius Eady from The Autobiography of a Jukebox “The Ghost, the Mountain” by Cornelius Eady “Lexicon” and “Baraka Hates Phillis” by Cornelius Eady “On Being Brought From Africa to America” by Phillis Wheatley

Lorna Goodison and Shauna Morgan on time travel, Band-Aids, and how human beings are always capable of surprise. Mentioned in this episode: “Nanny” from I Am Becoming My Mother by Lorna Goodison Mother Muse by Lorna Goodison “The Idiot Boy” from Lyrical Ballads by William Wordsworth “To Mr. William Wordsworth, Collector of Stamps for Westmoreland” from Turn Thanks by Lorna Goodison “This Pastel on Paper Laid on Aluminium Portrait Shows” from Mother Muse by Lorna Goodison “Immortal, Invisible, God Only Wise“ from Redemption Ground: Essays and Adventures by Lorna Goodison From Harvey River: A Memoir of My Mother and Her Island by Lorna Goodison “Trash” by Barbara Gloudon for 1985/86 LTM National Pantomime Controlling the Silver by Lorna Goodison “Away Like Dust” by Shauna Morgan “All Saints” from Mother Muse by Lorna Goodison

Patricia Smith and Amy Alvarez on feeling smart, writing a way out of hate, and the poetry slam. Mentioned in this episode: “16” from Unshuttered by Patricia Smith “Motown Crown” by Patricia Smith Patterns of Poetry by Miller Williams Incendiary Art by Patricia Smith “Undertaker” by Patricia Smith Inciting Joy by Ross Gay

Tim Seibles and Ariana Benson on alien life, Stevie Wonder, and the dreams of Langston Hughes. Mentioned in this episode: “Hope” from Voodoo Libretto by Tim Seibles "Morning Where You Are" from Voodoo Libretto by Tim Seibles One Turn Around the Sun by Tim Seibles “Love’s in Need of Love Today” by Stevie Wonder “Four Takes of a Similar Situation” from Hammerlock by Tim Seibles gGhjeCCT9PzRR5daSiVm 4pbBAyp0PqhFtRXEzVMC

Every ten years since 1994, Black poets from all over the world gather at the Furious Flower Poetry Conference. In 2024, 10 poets were honored with Lifetime Achievement Awards. We bring their voices, poems, and stories to you in Furious Flower IV: The Worlds of Black Poetry. Hosted by Lauren K. Alleyne, Executive Director of the Furious Flower Poetry Center at James Madison University.