Author: Black Poetics, Black Worldbuilding

Co-moderated by Lyn Patterson and Vincente Perez, this Litquake session considers Black poetics as a world-building phenomenon. In the lineage of Black poets like Henry Dumas and June Jordan, panelists Ashia Ajani, Darius Simpson and Nefertiti Asanti write against the Human, write towards Black eco-poetics, and write as political education to form critical practices of viewing, listening, and being. Hear how they use poetry to dissect and analyze the worlds of white supremacy, settler colonialism, and heteropatriarchy, charting a path toward alternative worlds and possibilities. Presented by Litquake. 

Moderators:

Lyn Patterson is a storyteller and visual artist who lives in Oakland, CA. She is a deeply invigorated poet, specifically inspired to write about Black diaspora and those who have been systematically marginalized in society as a means of empowering future generations with their stories.

Connect: Lyn Patterson - Website

Vincente Perez is a poet and scholar working at the intersection of poetry, Hip-Hop, and digital culture. He is a PhD Candidate in the Performance Studies program and a Poetry and the Senses Fellow at UC Berkeley. His debut poetry chapbook is Other Stories to Tell Ourselves.

Connect: Vincente Perez - Website

Panelists:

Ashia Ajani is a sunshower, a glass bead, an overripe nectarine from Denver, CO, Queen City of the Plains and the unceded territory of Cheyenne, Ute and Arapaho peoples now living on unceded Ohlone land. They are an African American Studies lecturer at UC Berkeley. They are the author of Hierloom.

Connect: Ashia Ajani - Website

Darius Simpson is a New Afrikan writer, educator, performer, and skilled living room dancer from Akron, Ohio. Much like the means of production, he believes poetry must be used for the positive social, political, and economic development of the majority of society. He is the author of Never Catch Me. 

Connect: Darius Simpson - Website

Nefertiti Asanti is a poet and cultural worker from the Bronx. Asanti is a recipient of fellowships and residencies from the Watering Hole, Lambda Literary, Anaphora Arts, Winter Tangerine, Museum of the African Diaspora, PEN America, and VONA. Asanti's debut chapbook is fist of wind. 

Connect: Nefertiti Asanti - Website 

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