Update

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Award (almost) announcements

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Two close but no cigar announcements:

I.

Selections from Selling the World (my ekphrastic manuscript in progress") was longlisted for the Kinsman Avenue Publishing African Diaspora Award. My poems “Adoration of the Magi,” “Bust of Akhenaten,” “homegoing,” “The Moorish Chief,” & “Quilt” will all published in a forthcoming anthology.

II.

The Third Renunciation was a finalist for the New England Poetry Club Sheila Margaret Motton Book Prize. This is the second time I’ve been a finalist for this prize.

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The poems I never read in public (a virtual reading from said the Frog to the scorpion)

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I don’t read longer poems at poetry readings. However, I composed some of my longest poems in said the Frog to the scorpion. Months ago, I made an intention to record these poems because I slaved over them and wanted my physical voice attached to them as they are to the poems I read aloud regularly.

So here is a 13 min reading of longer poems from said the Frog to the scorpion

Poems:

1. "when asked why I believed Her"

2. "who She is" (I screwed up the title in the video)

3. “when asked about toxic amnesia”

4. “take your pick”

5. “when asked why I won't”

And yes, there are a lot of squirrels behind me...

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Book launch reading of said the Frog to the scorpion

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The book launch of said the Frog to the scorpion (Harbor Editions, 2024) was a special event.

I was honored to have Kai Coggin and Maya Williams read their amazing poetry as a part of the night. You can watch the recording through the link below.

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A five minute reading for Black History Month, Valentine’s Day, and my new collection

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In honor of Black History Month, Valentine’s Day, and the publication of my new collection, here is a five minute reading from said the Frog to the scorpion and one other poem.

Poems read in the video (the first four appear in said the Frog to the scorpion):

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Fare Forward’s The Editors’ Best of 2023 - The Third Renunciation

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In a year filled with mass shootings, hate crimes, and wars, I craved a book on theodicy. But I wasn’t going to find the book I personally needed on a systematic theology shelf. Instead, I reread Henry’s poems.

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"Invisible Man (Two Views)” - Alan Squire Publishing Annual Poetry Contest

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My poem "Invisible Man (Two Views)” was shortlisted in Alan Squire Publishing Annual Poetry Contest and is now in ASP Bulliten’s latest issue.

Invisible Man, Glenn Ligon

This is a doubly ekphrastic poem, inspired by Glenn Ligon’s canvases (by the same name), who in turn took his inspiration from Ralph Ellison’s novel of the same name. Both Ligon and my work represents the opening paragraphs of Ellison’s work to great effect.

So I’m standing on the shoulders of giants. Black excellence.

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Fevers of the Mind Poetry Showcase

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As a few people are aware, one of the projects I'm currently working (yes, I said “one of…"“) is a collection of ekphrastic poems: I’m expanding Dust & Ashes into a full-length collection.

To that end, I've spent a good part of the summer visiting a bunch of art museums in three different states (so far) to balance the literary art responses with some visual art. Some fruits of that labor were published today in Fevers of the Mind. Here is the link to the poems:

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MEH Updates: my new newsletter through Substack

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For about a year people have been asking me about a newsletter. I keep saying, “yeah, I’ll get around to something.” Now I finally have.

MEH Updates will be a (mostly) monthly newsletter about recent and upcoming events, publications, generally musings, and the like.

Could you access the same information by constantly checking in and refreshing my website multiple times a month? Of course. But I’ve been told that a newsletter sent directly to one’s inbox is an easier system for people.

You can subscribe by entering your email in the form.

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Solstice Literary Magazine Stephen Dunn Poetry Prize winner!

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Well I can finally announce that my poem “the Banjo Player explains” was chosen by A Van Jordan as the Solstice Literary Magazine Stephen Dunn Poetry Prize winner!

The poem is an ekphrastic narrative based on Henry Ossawa Tanner’s painting The Banjo Lesson: the painting which was the cover art for my first collection, Teaching While Black.


Poetry Editor Note

It’s a joy to present the selections for the 2023 Stephen Dunn Prize for poetry. The winning poem is “the Banjo Player Explains,” by Matthew E. Henry, selected by our poetry judge for this issue, A. Van Jordan. He writes:

In one of the most assured ekphrastic poems I’ve read in some time, ‘the Banjo Player Explains,’ grants a wish I’ve had since I first saw this Tanner painting: ‘I wish I could hear this lesson played out.’ The poem goes beyond the canvas and the framing of the two figures by “striking a balance between two worlds,” indeed. There’s also the perspective of experiential knowledge of the boy as man, an old man, looking back on a moment he will never forget, yet not initially knowing the significance of it in the moment. There’s great wisdom and a life lesson here.

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Origin Stories: on the beginnings of The Third Renunciation

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After a reading in Minneapolis today, someone opened a copy of The Third Renunciation and asked about the dedication, which reads:

I was asked, “who was Chase to you?”

One of the first theological sonnets I wrote came out of processing his death. The sonnet, every draft, was terrible. Eventually, a decade later, I realized it was because some stories can't be told in 14 lines.

“Out of My Hands” was published by Zone 3 and is that story, and also is the beginnings of The Third Renunciation.

You can read it here.