Message of Hope from Toi Derricotte
"Black poets are some of the few people on this earth who carry the total and deep visceral memory of what has happened to us for these hundreds of years. We carry it from our mothers and fathers, our grandparents, and all those before. We are the ones who have within us the power of memory, of language and feelings. We have the sensibility to transform all of that pain and triumph into the beauty of poetry. What a great gift to us, to those suffering today, and to those in our past! What a great work for us to do! This is painful and terrible work, hard work, joyous work!"
via CAVE CANEM |
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Resources for Supporting and Uplifting the Black Community
Tru Art Speaks: "We believe in Hip Hop as an educational and social justice tool. Finding its roots in the heart of oppressed communities, Hip Hop, a universal culture is comprised of traditions, art, artifacts, and practices that will define the resistance of global generations for years to come."
House of GG : "Founded and led by trans and gender-nonconforming people in Little Rock, Arkansas, House of GG provides 'safe and transformative spaces where members of our community can heal — physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually — from the trauma arising from generations of transphobia, racism, sexism, poverty, ableism, and violence.'"
Anti-racist resources: "This document is intended to serve as a resource to white people and parents to deepen our anti-racism work. If you haven’t engaged in anti-racism work in the past, start now. Feel free to circulate this document on social media and with your friends, family, and colleagues." |
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Poetry Daily stands with the Black community.
We oppose racism, oppression, and police brutality.
We will continue to amplify diverse voices in the poetry world.
Black Lives Matter. |
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What Sparks Poetry:
Shane McCrae on Sylvia Plath's "Lady Lazarus"
"Yes—I did feel as if the top of my head had been taken off. I was desperately goth at the time, and those lines were the gothiest thing I had ever heard. And hearing them re-configured my ideas about what a poem could be. No roses! No violets! That day, I wrote eight poems. Thankfully, I don’t remember any of them—except the very first one." |
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North Street Book Prize for Self-Published Books
Last Call! Deadline: June 30
Sponsored by Winning Writers and co-sponsored by BookBaby and Carolyn Howard-Johnson. Categories include Poetry, Mainstream/Literary Fiction, Genre Fiction, Creative Nonfiction & Memoir, Children's Picture Book, and Graphic Novel & Memoir. One grand prize of $5,000 and each category winner will receive $1,000, plus additional benefits. Gift for everyone who enters. Final judges: Jendi Reiter and Ellen LaFleche. Entry fee: $65. Winning Writers is one of "101 Best Websites for Writers" (Writer's Digest). Entries accepted by mail and via Submittable. See guidelines and past winners.
"As a recent winner, I am highly impressed about how supportive they have been." —W.R. Rodriguez, 2018 North Street poetry winner for From the Banks of Brook Avenue. |
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