United States of Writing Blog

Hey mi gente! This week, I am highlighting a unique literary event in Houston, Plus Fest: The Everything Plus Poetry Festival, and its mini-fest events known as Pass It On.

Three years ago, poet Emanuelee Outspoken Bean created Plus Fest, a one-day event to celebrate and highlight raw, innovative spoken word poetry. In addition to poetry slams, the interactive literary experience includes poetic photo booths, art installations, and speed-writing buskers. The number of artists on hand is massive and the bridges built between poetry and other art mediums is impressive.

Pass It On is a secondary, smaller event series created, and often hosted, by Bean that serves to give people a taste of what they will get at the larger festival. It’s a smart undertaking and gives more poets opportunities to perform and share their work.

I was able to attend a Pass It On event in October that featured local poet Xach Blunt and music from DJ Elevated, another local, who set the mood. Xach was on hand with his latest chapbook, Misfits & Bangers, and four guest poets shared work. There was also a culinary twist, as a local up-and-coming chef sold gumbo throughout the event. It was a thrilling night with a great vibe, all about building community and enjoying beautiful poetry.

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Every place has writers that reflect its culture. Literary place-making, I call it. If you want to know more about a place, you need to hear its stories. There are so many books to choose from, but here are just a few that celebrate New Orleans culture by writers who live, breathe, and love this city.

From a Bend in the River: 100 New Orleans Poets (Runagate Press, 1998) edited by Kalamu ya Salaam. This anthology captures the diverse voices of New Orleans, celebrating the multi-ethnic tapestry of the city. Established and emerging writers of all ages are included in this extensive collection of poetry.

Monday Nights: Stories From the Creative Writing Workshop at the University of New Orleans (University of New Orleans Press, 2016) edited by Fredrick Barton and Joanna Leake. The University of New Orleans MFA program in creative writing has produced some fantastic writers. The writers in this anthology took part in a Monday night workshop that has lasted over twenty-five years, where they met to share and discuss their work. Included are stories by graduates of the program, such as Rebecca Antoine, Maurice Carlos Ruffin, and Che Yeun, as well as faculty members, such as Fredrick Barton, Amanda Boyden, and M. O. Walsh.

N.O. Lit: 200 Years of New Orleans Literature (Lavender Ink, 2013) edited by Nancy Dixon. This book highlights the literature of New Orleans over the past two hundred years including prominent writers like Truman Capote, Eudora Welty, and Tennessee Williams, but also historic writers like the poets of Les Cenelles, French Creoles of color who published the first anthology of African American literature in 1845. The book was made possible by grants from the Louisiana Endowment for the Humanities and the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Foundation.

The Booklover’s Guide to New Orleans (LSU Press, 2013) by Susan Larson. For years, Susan Larson was the book editor for the New Orleans Times-Picayune and now hosts WWNO’s public radio program The Reading Life. Susan shares her wealth of knowledge for local bookstores, historic landmarks, current literary festivals, and more.

Congo Square: African Roots in New Orleans (University of Louisiana at Lafayette, 2011) by Freddi Williams Evans. This book explores the history of the Sunday gatherings of enslaved Africans at Congo Square beginning in the eighteenth century. Included are stories and descriptions of the songs, dances, and musical instruments of these gatherings. Congo Square is often considered the birth place of American music and continues to be a prominent venue for music festivals and community gatherings.

This week I had the opportunity to speak with Jassmine Parks, a native Detroit writer and slam poetry champion who found a home in the city’s creative community and has since gone on to perform her work nationally. Her introduction to the literary world came from a beloved venue, Artist Village Detroit.

“My altar call to the lit scene in Detroit occurred at an open mic at Artist Village,” says Jassmine. “At the time I was writing poetry just to heal from generations of trauma and my therapist suggested that I attend and possibly perform at an open mic.”

Artist Village is also the venue where I attended my first writing workshop and fell in love with poetry. My writing was heavily influenced by the poets, musicians, and painters that I met there.

Jassmine spent two years as a member of the Detroit Poetry Slam Team and is now working with youth poets as a mentor for InsideOut’s Citywide Poets program. “I feel rejuvenated and inspired when creating new work,” she says. “The students I teach are resilient and have so much to say.”

Lastly, we spoke about what might be missing from Detroit’s literary world. “I would like to see a literary council in the city, something like a Justice League, a combination of multi-disciplined writers across generations and experiences that comes together to bridge the gap between opportunities and writers,” says Jassmine. “A hub to unify and mobilize the writers within the city of Detroit.”

As Poets & Writers’ first literary outreach coordinator in Detroit, I feel that we are beginning to address these needs. I, along with Lupe Mendez and Kelly Harris, the coordinators in Houston and New Orleans, are spreading the word about the resources P&W has to offer writers, and the Readings & Workshops mini-grants that are available. These efforts are all a way to bring writers a bit closer to each other and I am excited to be a part of this new initiative.

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Good day mi gente. October has been a busy month for Houston writers. I wanted to take a moment to give a shout-out to the Houston Poetry Fest. The thirty-fourth annual event was held at the University of Houston–Downtown campus over three days, from October 11–13, with readings, panel discussions, and lectures. Featured guest poets included Gayle Bell, Sharon Klander, Alex Lemon, Kevin Prufer, and Michael D. Snediker, who read from their work. Joining them at the readings were “juried poets,” who are selected by judges through a submission process.

In addition to the main event, satellite readings were also held before and after the festival dates in the city, offering writers and attendees more opportunities to participate in the literary festivities. The satellite readings included a “Salute to LGBTQ+ Poets,” a Sylvia Plath tribute, bilingual events, and a youth poetry slam. Although I wasn’t able to attend this year, it is great to see the Houston Poetry Fest expanding and still going strong.