Brim to read at Southern Connecticut State University on 2/12

Truth Thomas reviews ICARUS IN LOVE

Antoinette Brim writes like Etta James sings. Her second collection, Icarus in Love, is compelling testimony to that fact. It is the testimony of a woman who knows the turbulence of blues—a courageous black woman, and highly skilled poet, overcoming the storms of living. Brim bears her soul with wrenching power in poems of love, heartbreak, and church-like revival. The poems are masterfully composed, adorned with wings of intelligence, and bathed in sunlit imagination.

Click here to read the rest of the review!

Truth Thomas is the founder of Cherry Castle Publishing.  His collections include: Party of Black, A Day of Presence, Bottle of Life, My TV is Not the Boss of Me (a children's book, illustrated by Cory Thomas) and Speak Water, winner of the 2013 NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Literary Work in Poetry. 

ICARUS IN LOVE among Split This Rock's Recommended Poetry Books of 2013

From the website:

"2013 was an extraordinary year for poetry! Choosing books for Split This Rock's fourth annual "recommended" list was harder than ever -- an embarrassment of riches to choose from. Poets are writing daring, innovative, gorgeous books that challenge the status quo and remind us of the power of language to wake us up, to give us strength.

Over the course of the past year we have felt immensely lucky to read and treasure new books of poetry of provocation and witness, and we're delighted to be able to recommend the following list to you today. We invite you to shop your local independent bookstore, Teaching for Change’s Busboys and Poets Bookstore, or Powells.com for all your poetry-loving (and soon-to-be-poetry-loving) family and friends."

Click here to view the list:   Split This Rock Recommended Poetry Books of 2013.

Support BaddDDD Sonia Sanchez: A documentary film!

From the website:

BaddDDD Sonia Sanchez: A new film by Barbara Attie, Janet Goldwater and Sabrina Schmidt Gordon, with musical score by Evan Solot You may have read Sonia Sanchez’s poetry, or attended a reading of her work where she combined spoken words with improvisational jazz and dancers. Or you may have attended a political rally where she challenged discrimination, illegal wars or lack of educational opportunities for underprivileged youth.

You may have experienced her as a teacher or mentor as she pioneered African American studies in higher education, taught creative writing, or developed women’s studies courses. If you have had one of these experiences, we hope you will agree with us that a film that brings this petite but powerful whirlwind to a larger audience is long overdue. Happy birthday Sister Sonia. We are launching this crowd funding campaign for BaddDDD Sonia Sanchez on the 79th birthday of this pioneering artist.  At 79, this dynamic writer is still going strong, fighting racism, sexism, oppression, poverty, and violence, while she continues to mesmerize audiences around the world. 

The title of our documentary is drawn from Sanchez's second book of poetry, We a BaddDDD People. In the documentary we trace the lifetime arc of this African American poet and activist who as a young, shy girl in Birmingham struggled with the loss of her mother and an embarrassing stammer only to emerge as an artistic and cultural leader and forceful public speaker. Always challenging the status quo, Sanchez tells us just how she became a “woman with razor blades between her teeth.” Sanchez rose to prominence as a seminal figure in the 1960s Black Arts Movement, raising her voice in the name of black culture, civil rights, women's liberation, and peace as a poet, playwright, teacher, organizer and early champion of rappers and spoken word artists.

She is among the earliest poets to incorporate urban black English into her poetry, and she was one of the first activists to secure the inclusion of African American studies in university curricula. Deemed "a lion in literature's forest" by poet Maya Angelou and winner of major literary awards including the American Book Award, Sonia Sanchez is the author of more than 17 books of poetry that explore a wide range of global and humanist themes, particularly the struggles and triumphs of women and people of color.

Despite Sanchez’s achievements, this is the first in-depth broadcast biography to include multi-generational artists, such as Questlove, Talib Kweli, Ursula Rucker and Jessica Care Moore, as well as contemporaries and scholars speaking about the impact of her work. The film looks at Sanchez as a writer and at the groundbreaking artistic and political movements she embraced and influenced. At the heart of the film are her powerful words that often segue into song or chants, and at times are accompanied by music and even dance.” Her work is read by Sanchez herself, and others including Ruby Dee, Nikki Giovanni, Ursula Rucker, Haki Madhubuti, Ayana Mathis, and John Bracey Jr.

Click here to go to the Kickstarter!

Third Thursday Poetry: Featuring Antoinette Brim at The Poetry Institute - New Haven, CT ​

On the third Thursday of each month, The Poetry Institute Poetry Series celebrates an eclectic mix of poetic voices. Enjoy outstanding readers in a casual setting. Admission is free. Refreshments will be served. Participate in the open mic. Doors open at 6:30 PM. Reading starts at 7:00 PM.  

The Institute Library, 847 Chapel Street, New Haven, CT.  For more info, visit: http://thepoetryinstitute.com/

Brim to read at STAND OUR GROUND Benefit Reading on June 25 in New Haven

Come listen to poets read their work from Stand Our Ground: Poems for Trayvon Martin and Marissa Alexander. I have two poems included in this ground-breaking anthology and am excited to participate in the benefit reading at the New Haven Public Library at 133 Elm Street in New Haven, CT on Tuesday, June 25th at 6:00 PM. The event is free and open to the public.

The event will be held in the program room which is in the basement. You can enter directly from the ramp on the side of the building which is Temple Street. The building sits on the corner of Temple and Elm facing the park which is called "The Green." This is also the handicap accessible entrance.

In "Stand Our Ground: Poems for Trayvon Martin and Marissa Alexander" 65 poets from all over the world join together in one voice for justice, freedom and peace. Stand Our Ground is the definitive testament of a revolutionary generation. In this historic collection Black Arts Movement legends Amiri Baraka, Sonia Sanchez, Haki R. Madhubuti and Askia M. Toure’ are joined by poets of all ages from across the United States and around the world representing countries in Africa, Asia, Europe as well as North and South America and the islands of the Caribbean.

The cases of Trayvon Martin and Marissa Alexander expose the duplicity of an American justice system that remains rooted in racism and sexism. Stand Our Ground is an effort to raise funds for both families to aid in their pursuit of justice even as it raises the consciousness of a generation toward the pursuit of a movement of justice for all!

The book’s editor, Ewuare X. Osayande, is a poet, educator and activist. The author of several books including Blood Luxury with an introduction by Amiri Baraka (Africa World Press) and Whose America?: New and Selected Poems with an introduction by Haki R. Madhubuti (Black Proletariat Press). He is an adjunct professor of African American Studies at Rutgers University. To order the book and for more information, visit: http://standourgroundbook.com/the-book/

Read New Poems from "Icarus in Love" on Brim's Main Street Rag Author's Page

Read new poems from Antoinette Brim's forthcoming book Icarus in Love.  Visit her Main Street Rag Publishing Company's Author's Page by clicking here.