This Is The Honey Poets: “A Jubilee of a People Dreaming Wildly” with KWAME ALEXANDER
3:30 pm – 5:00 pm
Joseph Meyerhoff Symphony Hall
Auditorium
PARKING
https://www.bsomusic.org/visit-joseph-meyerhoff-hall/
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After a day of robust discussions, poet, educator, producer and #1 New York Times bestselling author KWAME ALEXANDER joins the 21st CityLit Festival in its 20th year of incorporation, as a special guest in a celebratory finale. The session includes poetry readings by contributors of the This IS the Honey anthology, CHET’LA SEBREE, KIMBERLY A. COLLINS, and MARITZA RIVERA who share their Honey poem and a few others before Kwame takes the stage and shares his own. Called a breathtaking poetry collection on “hope, heart, and heritage”, Honey celebrates Black life in tender meditations and haunting lyricism. Edited by Kwame, it includes promising and prominent poets in a vibrant collection, a must-have keepsake for poetry lovers. The session name comes from Festival poet Mahogany L. Browne’s poem with the same title as the book. Kwame follows the reading in conversation with former Enoch Pratt librarian DEBORAH TAYLOR, who will also discuss Why Fathers Cry at Night. A book signing follows, along with the final event of the day, a performance by musical guest artist Be Steadwell on the Lobby Stage.
As a world-class creative, innovator, and visionary, Kwame is the Emmy-winning Executive Producer, Showrunner, and Writer of The Crossover TV series, based on his Newbery-Medal-winning novel of the same name, which premiered on Disney+ in April 2023. The series was produced in partnership with LeBron James’ SpringHill Company and Big Sea Entertainment, Kwame’s production company dedicated to creating innovative, highly original children’s and family entertainment. Deborah has chaired and served on many American Library Association (ALA) committees, including, the Newbery Awards, Coretta Scott King Book Awards, and the Michael L. Printz Award.
Honey contributing poets include Puerto Rican poet and Army veteran, MARITZA RIVERA who is the creator of a short form of poetry called Blackjack, the author of About You, among others, and co-edited the anthology, Diaspora Café: D.C., with Jeffrey Banks. CHET’LA SEBREE is the author of Field Study, winner of the 2020 James Laughlin Award from the Academy of American Poets, and Mistress, a 2020 NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Literary Work-Poetry nominee. Callaloo Fellow and Pushcart finalist, KIMBERLY COLLINS, teaches at Howard University and is the author of Bessie’s Resurrection and the founder of SOAR (So Others Ascend Righteously) where she empowers others through her writing for healing methods and programs.
Other current projects in development at Big Sea include America’s Next Great Author, the groundbreaking reality television series for writers. A regular contributor to NPR’s Morning Edition, Kwame is the creator and host of the Why Fathers Cry podcast, premiering September 2023, featuring conversations about love and parenting, and loss, with fathers and sons.
3:30 pm – 4:00 pm
Honey Poets: MARITZA RIVERA, CHET’LA SEBREE, KIMBERLY COLLINS
4:00 pm – 5:00 pm
KWAME in conversation with DEBORAH TAYLOR
kwamealexander.com
Facebook: facebook.com/kwamealexander
Instagram: @kwamealexander
Twitter: @kwamealexander
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DEBORAH TAYLOR retired from the Enoch Pratt Free Library in Baltimore, MD. She has chaired and served on many American Library Association (ALA) committees, including the 2015 Sibert Award for Outstanding Informational Books for Children, the Newbery Awards, Coretta Scott King Book Awards and the Michael L. Printz Award. This year, she completed a term on the Institute of Museum and Libraries Board. She was named the 2015 recipient of the Coretta Scott King/Virginia Hamilton Award for Lifetime Achievement. She is currently a panel moderator and reviewer of young people’s literature.
Twitter: @shackle52
Instagram: @shacklebolt
MARITZA RIVERA is a Puerto Rican poet and Army veteran who has lived in Rockville, MD since 1994. In 1999, she created and hosted the weekly Mariposa Poetry Series in College Park, MD. She also created and hosted the annual Mariposa Poetry Retreat and the annual Mariposa Reunion Readings at the Writer’s Center in Bethesda, MD in 2011. The Mariposa Poetry Retreat, Writing in the Rainforest, was held in Puerto Rico in 2022. Maritza is also the creator of a short form of poetry called Blackjack and is the author of About You, A Mother’s War, Baker’s Dozen, 21 Blackjack Poems; and the Blackjack Poetry Playing Cards. Maritza co-edited the anthology, Diaspora Café: D.C., with Jeffrey Banks published by Day Eight in 2022. She also collaborated with poet Alberto Roblest to translate his collection into English. His book, Inquilinos Mudos/Silent Tenants was published by Day Eight in 2023.
CHET’LA SEBREE is the author of Field Study, winner of the 2020 James Laughlin Award from the Academy of American Poets, and Mistress, a 2020 NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Literary Work-Poetry nominee. For her work, Chet’la has received fellowships from Baldwin for the Arts, the Delaware Division of the Arts, the Hawthornden Foundation, Hedgebrook, the Hermitage Artist Retreat, MacDowell, the Robert H. Smith International Center for Jefferson Studies, the Stadler Center for Poetry, the Vermont Studio Center, and Yaddo, where she received the 2018 National Endowment for the Arts Residency for Collaborative Teams. Currently, she is an assistant professor at George Washington University and visiting faculty in the Low-Residency MFA program at Randolph College.
www.chetlasebree.com
Twitter: @Nahtil
Instagram: @cnsebree
KIMBERLY COLLINS is a Callaloo Fellow and Pushcart finalist who teaches English at Howard University. She is the author of two books of poetry, Bessie’s Resurrection (Indolent Books 2018) and Slightly Of Center (1993). She is the founder of SOAR (So Others Ascend Righteously) where she empowers others through her writing for healing methods and programs. Her early work appeared in the seminal anthology edited by Ras Baraka and Kevin Powell, In the Tradition: An Anthology of Young Black Writers. Her most recent poetry appears in: It’s The Honey, The 100-year House (2022), Beltway Quarterly (2019), 50/50: Poems & Translations by Women over 50 (2018), Pittsburg Poetry Review, Revise the Psalm: The Gwendolyn Brooks, Anthology; Syracuse Cultural Workers’ 2017 Women Artist Datebook, Truth Feasting: Anthology of African American Writers (2016), The Berkeley Review and more. She is a native of Philadelphia who currently resides in Washington, D.C.
www.Kimberlyacollins.com
Instagram: @dcsoar
Featuring Musical Guest Artist: BE STEADWELL
5:30-6:15 pm
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CityLit Project and the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra in partnership with Chesapeake Shakespeare Company present CityLit Festival: Dismantling the Culture of Silence. This celebration of the arts showcases a bevy of leading poets and writers on April 20, 2024. We’re talking fiction, nonfiction, poetry galore, and ways to up the ante on your craft.
Download the CityLit Festival: Dismantling the Culture of Silence flyer.