BLACK FIRE THIS TIME | A Busboys and Poets Books Presentation
Date and Time
Apr 2, 2023 6:00 pm
Location
14th & V
2021 14th St NW, Washington, District of Columbia, 20009
Apr 2, 2023 6:00 pm
14th & V
“We. Need. Fire.
We are just as. Pushed aside as ever
And have to fight for respect.”
—Adrienne Kennedy, 2022 Gold Medal for Drama, The American Academy of Arts and Letters
A new anthology on the history and legacy of the Black Arts Movement. In a Foreword by Ishmael Reed, Black Fire—This Time is described as a 21st century “update” that builds upon the traditions of Alain Locke’s The New Negro (1920) and Amiri Baraka and Larry Neal’s Black Fire: an anthology of Afro-American Writing (1968).
Edited by Dr. Kim McMillon and with an Introduction by Dr. Margo Natalie Crawford, the theme of this anthology is “Black is Beautiful, Black is Powerful, Black is Home. ”Exploring the past, present and future of Black writing, this collection bridges many of the founders of the Black Arts Movement—including Nikki Giovanni, Sonia Sanchez, Haki Madhubuti, Amiri Baraka, Wanda Coleman, Dudley Randall, Eugene B. Redmond and Askia Touré—with contemporary established writers in the tradition such as Willow’s own brian g. gilmore—to Ishmael Reed’s “younger generation”—Karla Brundage, Allison E. Francis, Tongo Eisen-Martin and C. Liegh McInnis.
Designed as an open conversation between generations bridging hearts and minds across decades, Black Fire—This Time’s works are rooted in preservation, reverence and discovery. It also stands out for its inclusion of voices that have been underrepresented in Black Fire in particular, writers such as Nikki Giovanni and James Baldwin, in an effort to provide a more complete view of the myriad perspectives on Black identity and writing.
Six phenomenal poets are joining us on the Busboys stage to share their personal accounts through spoken word. Copies of the book will be available for purchase during and after the event, and the Poets will be signing following the program.
This event is free and open to all. Our program begins at 6:00 pm, and will be followed by an audience Q&A. Copies of BLACK FIRE THIS TIME will be available for purchase before and after the event. Please note that this event is IN PERSON and will NOT be livestreamed.
We ask that guests RSVP in order to receive direct updates about the event from Busboys and Poets Books
brian g. gilmore is a native of Washington, D.C. A Senior Lecturer in the Law and Society Program at the University of Maryland College Park, gilmore is the author of four collections of poetry, the latest, come see about me, marvin (Wayne State University Press, 2019), a Michigan Notable Book Recipient for 2020. A Cave Canem and Kimbilio Fellow, gilmore is a contributing writer for the Progressive Magazine.
Keisha-Gaye Anderson is a Jamaican-born poet, writer, visual artist, and communications and marketing strategist based in Brooklyn, NY. Her debut poetry collection Gathering the Waters (Jamii Publishing 2014) was accepted into the Poets House Library and the National Library of Jamaica. She is the author of two other poetry collections: Everything Is Necessary (Willow Books 2019) and A Spell for Living (Agape 2020), which received the Editors’ Choice recognition for the Numinous Orisons, Luminous Origin Literary Award. Anderson began her career as a journalist, having written for national consumer magazines like Psychology Today, Teen People, Black Enterprise and Honey and working as a producer or associate producer on documentary programming for networks like CBS, PBS, and NHK (Japanese television).
Darrell Stover is a poet, cultural historian, performance artist, and science communicator with a Master’s degree in writing from Johns Hopkins University. His most recent volume of poetry is Somewhere Deep Down When. His work has appeared most recently in the 25th Anniversary celebratory anthology of the Carolina African American Writers Collective, All the Songs We Sing. He lectures in Africana Studies with a focus on Afrofuturism more broadly known as the Black Speculative Arts Movement.
Alan King, author of DRIFT (Willow Books), is a poet and journalist living in the DC metropolitan area. He is a blogger on art and domestic issues. In addition to teaching creative writing throughout the DC/Baltimore region, he is a part-time poetry instructor at the Duke Ellington School of the Arts and the senior program director at the DC Creative Writing Workshop at Charles Hart Middle School in DC’s Congress Heights neighborhood. A past Pushcart Prize nominee, Alan is also a Cave Canem fellow and VONA alum.
Ewuare X. Osayande is a poet, essayist and publisher. The author of several books, his latest collection of poetry is entitled Black Phoenix Uprising (Africa World Press). His other books include Blood Luxury with an introduction by Amiri Baraka and Whose America? with an introduction by Haki R. Madhubuti.
Elijah Pringle III is a Philadelphia poet, lyric baritone, composer, actor, and artivist. A “Best of the Net” nominee, he is the author of At the Cornerstone, Feeding the Sparrow, and Second Saturday at Serenity, and has appeared on radio, TV & stage. He has been quoted in print in Newsweek, The New York Times, The Philadelphia Daily News and elsewhere. He credits his true education to five generations of teachers.
Conversation Partner Heather Buchanan is an award-winning publisher and producer. She is the host of the Black Fire This Time National Tour, featuring over 70 poets and writers. She is also the publisher of The Collected Poems of E. Ethelbert Miller, Washington D.C. Hall of Famer.
