Update

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Teaching Anti-Racist Poetry Workshop at Mass Poetry Festival 2021

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Today I lead a workshop on Teaching Anti-Racist Poetry as part of the Massachusetts Poetry Festival!

I think it went when and I didn’t bring (much) shame to the family.

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If you’re looking for a similar workshop with your students, your department, your school, your writing group (etc.) hit me up.

Here is the description of what we did today:

In this workshop, participants will explore anti-racist pedagogy through poetry. After defining terms, the time will be spent reading poetry from a variety of sources (mostly living BIPOC authors) and participating in analysis and discussion activities geared towards high school language arts classrooms. This workshop targets high school language arts teachers looking for ways to engage their classroom communities with honesty, vulnerability, and bravery. Participants will leave with a governing philosophy (“if not my class, then where?”), a classroom-ready packet of poems, and instructional ideas.

If you were in the workshop or the live stream and need access to the resources/materials that I provided, hit me up.

Poem Nominated for a Pushcart Prize

I’m pleased to announce that Porcupine Literary nominated my poem “an open letter to the secretary who asked how i haven’t taken to drink or schedule 1 narcotics like so many of our colleagues” for the Pushcart Prize.

Maybe this is the time the powers that be will move me from a nominate to a recipient. But I’m honored nonetheless.

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Tahoma Literary Review Spotlights "self-evident"

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"self-evident" by Matthew E. Henry, or MEH, caught my attention with its multiple and powerful layers. Told as an adult memory, it enters the moment when a child is asked to believe their own history isn't real but to focus instead on a cleaner, more inspiring narrative. For me, Henry's poem tackles rock-hard truths with personal experience and simple questions, and in so doing reexamines what we teach our children.

~ Mare Heron Hake, Poetry Editor TLR

See the rest here.

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Dust and Ashes - Chapbook Accepted for Publication by Californios

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My chapbook Dust and Ashes was officially accepted for publication by Californios Press and is scheduled to be released this Fall.

This collection is a series of responses to a variety of visual and literary art, using the Jewish Torah and Christian New Testament as a (rough) backdrop.

I figured I should put my Masters of Arts in Theological Studies (concentration: Hebrew Bible and theology and the arts) to good use this time around.

More information to follow.

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Poets in Pajamas Reading on Facebook Live - May 10th

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I’ve been selected to participate in Poets in Pajamas reading series on Facebook Live!

On Sunday, May 10th I will be reading selections from Teaching While Black, answering questions, and trying not to bring shame upon my family.

We’ll see what happens.

Here’s the event page link: https://www.facebook.com/events/1162329310765604/

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Selected for MassPoetry "Poem of the Moment“ Feature

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My poem “self evident” has been selected by MassPoetry as a “Poem of the Moment.”

This honor means that my poem will be displayed on the Mass Poetry homepage for one week, be part of the Mass Poetry newsletter sent to 5000+ subscribers, and live in the Poem of the Moment archives.

And scores of English, humanities, and social studies teachers are going to suddenly feel very guilty, and (hopefully) reassess their white supremacist pedagogy.

Strong language you say?

If your lesson(s) specifically “other” your students because of their race, if the assignment is only natural and comfortable for white children, what would you call it?

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Three Poems in Poemeleon

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Poemeleon has accepted three of my poems for their TRUTH/Y Issue:

 

  • “an open letter to the school resource officer who almost shot me in my class” ~ reprinted from Gravitas and Teaching While Black


  • "an open letter to the poetry editor of [name withheld on advice from counsel]” ~ a true (enough) story


  • "…and who is my neighbor?" ~ the “Parable of the Good Samaritan” retold for our #movement times.

Introducing The WEIGHT Journal

Some English teacher friends and I have started a litmag for high school students (9th -12th grade) called The WEIGHT Journal.

 

It has been widely circulated on social media that Shakespeare likely composed Macbeth, Antony and Cleopatra, and King Lear in the midst of the Black Death. Usually this factoid is shared as a challenge for writers to continue producing work in the midst of COVID-19 pandemic. No pressure.

Taking its title from the ending of Lear, The WEIGHT is a literary blog for high school students who may similarly find themselves in need of a creative outlet. Students with something heavy to get off their chest, and those bored out of their minds at home.

​We welcome all sorts of creative writing: poetry, flash fiction, short fiction, creative non-fiction, hybrid, and whatever else you have.

“The weight of this sad time we must obey,
Speak what we feel, not what we ought to say."
― William Shakespeare, King Lear

Submission guidelines:

We're looking for writing that has something honest to say. Something that releases the WEIGHT/WAIT. That's it. No topic is off-limits. This is not about being "school appropriate."

  • We are always accepting new submissions from 9-12 grade students (homeschoolers are welcome).

  • We are publishing on a rolling basis (as we read, review, and accept new material, goes up).

  • Please submit works not previously published elsewhere (your personal website/blog/social media do NOT count).

  • Please include a short bio (100 words max) about yourself, including things like where you are, what you do, any past publications, hope and dreams, glass half full/empty.

​Poetry: 1-3 poems, up to 6 pages of poetry

Flash Fiction: 1-2 pieces, up to 500 words each

Short Fiction: 1 piece at a time, max 2000 words

Creative Nonfiction: 1 piece at a time, max 2000 words

Something you can’t even classify: 1 piece 1 at a time, max 2000 words

​Email your submissions as a doc., docx., or pdf. attachment (not in the body of an email) to theweightjournal@gmail.com