Probably surprising to most (for a variety of reasons) I’ve only written one divorce poem. Of course it’s a sonnet.
“split screen” is included in Pandemic Love and Other Affinities, an Ice Floe Press anthology.
"...and he did eat" - fiction in Miniskirt Magazine
This short of flash fiction pays homage to two distinct classics and has been published in Issue 15 of Miniskirt Magazine.
Read it here.
Interview with Fare Forward on education and the Colored page
I recently did an interview with Whitney Rios-Ross, poetry editor at Fare Forward in their education-themed issue.
We discuss my collection, the Colored page, and the intersection of career, faith, and writing. It also features three poems from the collection.
Read it here.
the Colored page in The Weston Owl
Writers Who Teach: The Sequel
Here is the full video of the reading (filled with AMAZING readers!)
MEH begins at around 21:00
Author Interview about the Colored page
The scary thing about interviews is that I never remember what I said and I’m too afraid to read them afterward. So you’ll have to tell me what I said.
But here is my interview with Neha Peri of Sundress Publications about the Colored page.
The Boston Globe’s Review of the Colored page
With clarity and force, he corrects the misconception that Massachusetts, and the northeast, are bastions of tolerance and equality. Henry teaches hard lessons, and necessary ones.
You can read the full review here.
the Colored page is available for purchase.
the Colored page Review at Fahmidan Journal
This collection of a poetry brings tears to one’s eyes, whilst presenting a variety of social and philosophical questions drawn from the repository of Henry’s lived experience. As a whole, this collection can be summed up as; Haunting, bold and necessary. My only hope for this incredible collection is that it succeeds in changing narratives of oppression and inequality and remedies generations of inequality.
the Colored page’s first book review is out from Fahmidan Journal ! You can read the full thing here.
Read “when my colleagues here are employer confused me with the only other black teacher in the district” and “practice makes perfect,” two poems previously published in Fahmidan Journal
Booking MEH for readings and such!
My Events and Services page is now live!
See where I will be in the world (in-person and virtually) and whether I can be useful to your community.
I am available for in-person and virtual readings, workshops, and professional developments for all age-groups. I’ve made appearances in elementary, middle, and high schools, at colleges/universities, in community centers and churches, as well as at national/international conferences.
“an open letter from the boy i was to the Man you have become” published in Shenandoah
People should write more about their guilt and shame. Of course I’m talking to myself. This is something I should do and did. I didn’t always suck in middle school, I wasn’t that kid, except on this day.
It’s strange to say I am “glad” to have this poem published. But I am happy that “an open letter from the boy i was to the Man you have become” has been published by Shenandoah and will appear in the Colored page.
Can never fully make amends, but I did, repeatedly, in high school and after. But the stench still sticks.
Pre-Order the Colored Page
50% of pre-order sales will support a college scholarship
for BIPOC students at my school.
Selected for Kenyon Review's 2022 Writers Retreat
The Alliance for Young Artists & Writers partnered with the Kenyon Review to offer a summer writing experience for educators participating in the Scholastic Art & Writing Awards! Educators with a student who received regional recognition in the 2022 Awards were eligible to apply for tuition coverage to attend an online, six-day workshop series to hone their writing and teaching practices with the Kenyon Review. They also received a $200 stipend to support their writing.
I'm one of those educators! More about that here.
"Mark 10:14" in Issue 4 of Pensive Journal
I am pleased that my poem “Mark 10:14” is appearing in the fourth issue of Pensive Journal (out of Northeastern University). Read the full issue online here. I dabbled with form this time and I think it worked out.
P.S. if you’re a Facebook friend and recognize yourself in this poem, oh well.
“when asked how to avoid being seen as racist” at Identity Theory
I am happy to have my strange little sonnet “when asked how to avoid being seen as racist” published in Identity Theory .
I think sex with animals is problematic. I think racism is problematic. These two facts are at the root of this poem (which is based on a joke I was once told).
And if you thought this poem involves any drunk children having sex with goats, you should sue your elementary school, you’ll need the money to make up for your poor reading comprehension skills.
Also read the companion poem “when asked what I learned during the ‘community forum’ on the appropriateness of my poem” out from Bending Genres.
Presenting and Reading at The Five Ponds Creative Writing Festival
I will be presenting at workshop at the Five Ponds Creative Writing Festival.
Translating Trauma
Writers often sift through personal and global pain using it as inspiration for composition. This can be done as a means of processing and coping with trauma, as well as a means of making connections with others. But are there stories we should keep to ourselves? Are we sometimes telling stories that are not ours to tell? When is writing an unhealthy act of reliving trauma instead of remembering it in a creative, healing context? Through the lens of poetry, this workshop—part craft lecture, part unlicensed therapy session—will consider these questions, and provide participants with tools to construct personal guidelines to best care for themselves and others during the writing process.
