Busboys and Poets Books Presents SOUL CULTURE: BLACK POETS, QUESTIONS, AND BOOKS THAT GREW ME UP
Date and Time
Aug 17, 2022 6:00 pm
Location
14th & V
2021 14th St NW, Washington, District of Columbia, 20009
Aug 17, 2022 6:00 pm
14th & V
Acclaimed Cave Canem poet and essayist Remica Bingham-Risher interweaves personal essays and interviews she conducted over a decade with 10 distinguished Black poets, such as Lucille Clifton, Sonia Sanchez, and Patricia Smith, to explore the impact of identity, joy, love, and history on the artistic process. Each essay is thematically inspired, centered on one of her interviews, and uses quotes drawn from her talks to showcase their philosophies. Each essay also delves into how her own life and work are influenced by these elders.
Noting the frustrating tendency for Black artists to be pigeonholed into the confines of various frameworks and ideologies—Black studies, women’s studies, LGBTQIA+ studies, and so on—Bingham-Risher reveals the multitudes contained within Black poets, both past and present. By capturing the radical love ethic of Blackness amid incessant fear, she has amassed not only a wealth of knowledge about contemporary Black poetry and poetry movements but also brings to life the historical record of Black poetry from the latter half of the 20th century to the early decades of the 21st.
Examining cultural traditions, myths, and music from the Four Tops to Beyoncé, Bingham-Risher reflects on the enduring gifts of art and community. If you’ve ever felt alone on your journey into the writing world, the words of these poets are for you.
Remica comes to the Busboys stage for a pre-sale event, joined in conversation by Dr. Khadijah Z. Ali-Coleman! Copies of the book will be available for purchase at this event only until the set publication date of September 6, 2022, so get your copy early while you can!
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 SOUL CULTURE will be available for purchase after the event, and there will be a signing. Full dinner service is available throughout the show. Please note that this event will not be livestreamed.
We ask that guests RSVP in order to receive direct updates about the event from Busboys and Poets Books. Proof of RSVP may be requested on arrival if capacity is reached.
Remica Bingham-Risher, a native of Phoenix, Arizona, is an alumna of Old Dominion University and Bennington College. She is a Cave Canem fellow and Affrilachian Poet. Among other journals, her work has been published in the New York Times, the Writer’s Chronicle, New Letters, Callaloo and Essence. She is the author of Conversion (Lotus, 2006) winner of the Naomi Long Madgett Poetry Award, What We Ask of Flesh (Etruscan, 2013) shortlisted for the Hurston/Wright Award and Starlight & Error (Diode, 2017) winner of the Diode Editions Book Award. her newest work, and first book of prose, Soul Culture: Black Poets, Books and Questions that Grew Me Up, will be published by Beacon Press in 2022. She is currently the Director of Quality Enhancement Plan Initiatives at Old Dominion University and resides in Norfolk, VA with her husband and children.
Khadijah Z. Ali-Coleman, Ed.D. is a cultural curator, community organizer, nationally recognized speaker, and multi-genre writer. As an educator, she has created and led educational programs for over 20 years at numerous institutions, including Montgomery Community Media, Covenant House Washington, The Alliance of Concerned Men, One Common Unity, and Morgan State University. She is founder of the multidisciplinary arts group Liberated Muse and co-founder of the national education research group Black Family Homeschool Educators and Scholars, LLC (BFHES). She has maintained the youth development blog So Our Youth Aspire since 2006. Khadijah Z. Ali-Coleman, Ed.D. is a cultural curator, community organizer, nationally recognized speaker, and multi-genre writer. As an educator, she has created and led educational programs for over 20 years at numerous institutions, including Montgomery Community Media, Covenant House Washington, The Alliance of Concerned Men, One Common Unity, and Morgan State University. She is founder of the multidisciplinary arts group Liberated Muse and co-founder of the national education research group Black Family Homeschool Educators and Scholars, LLC (BFHES). She has maintained the youth development blog So Our Youth Aspire since 2006. She currently serves as the Executive Director of the Hurston/Wright Foundation.
