A conference that convenes every 10 years in Harrisonburg to honor and study Black poetry kicks off its fourth gathering on Wednesday. WMRA's Randi B. Hagi reports.
Hundreds of poets from around the world will assemble at James Madison University this week to learn from MacArthur Fellows, Pulitzer Prize winners, and Poet Laureates including Rita Dove, Terrance Hayes, and Tyehimba Jess. The theme of Furious Flower IV, "Celebrating the Worlds of Black Poetry," speaks to the multitudes contained within the field.
LAUREN K. ALLEYNE: I say Furious Flower is kind of both the State of the Union of Black poetry and the family cookout of Black poetry.
Lauren K. Alleyne is the executive director of the Furious Flower Poetry Center. The decennial conference carries on the legacy that Joanne V. Gabbin began in 1994, when Black poets were much rarer to find in curricula or on college faculties. But recognition of these artists has grown.
ALLEYNE: We are now committed to this tradition of saying, "hey, we see us, and we have this rich tradition, and we're going to celebrate this rich tradition. We're going to have conversations about this tradition together. We're going to nurture the next generation of this tradition together. We're going to honor the ancestors and the elders in this tradition together."
The conference includes free poetry readings that are open to the public, and a ticketed finale concert at the Forbes Center with country singer-songwriter Brittney Spencer. And if you want to tune in from home, a podcast launches this week featuring conversations with Furious Flower award winners.
Full disclosure, WMRA's operating license is held by JMU's board of visitors, and JMU underwrites programming on WMRA.
