Best Of: Poetic Justice

CIIS Public Programs

This episode showcases selections from three previous episodes featuring poets who explore a variety of social justice issues through their work. This episode contains explicit language. Part One The episode begins with poet and scholar Cameron Awkward-Rich joined in conversation with writer and curator James Fleming. Cameron reads first from his recent award-winning book Dispatch followed by a poem from his 2016 book Sympathetic Little Monster, which broke new ground in Trans, Queer, Black, and American poetry. Part Two This excerpt features the poet Layli Long Soldier in conversation with San Francisco poet Brynn Saito. Layli reads a selection from her collection of poetry WHEREAS, and talks with Brynn about her journey writing these poems in response to the congressional resolution “Apology to Native Peoples.” Part Three The episode closes with diversity and inclusion specialist Denise Boston in a conversation with author and academic DaMaris B. Hill that spans poetry, history, and current events to illuminate the lives of extraordinary women and their impact on today's society. DaMaris also reads from her book A Bound Woman is a Dangerous Thing: The Incarceration of African American Women from Harriet Tubman to Sandra Bland.