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.

Antoinette Brim Leads Writing Workshop: Poetic Form & Freedom: A Workshop

Drawing from Marilyn Nelson’s A Wreath for Emmitt Till and other poems, we will explore traditional poetic form as a means to express challenging subject matter, to celebrate literary tradition and to contribute to the progress of formalism. Poets of all levels are welcome. Registration is required as space is limited. Please call 860-695-6295 or go to the events calendar at www.hplct.org. 

Workshop leader Antoinette Brim, author of Icarus in Love and Psalm of the Sunflower, is a Cave Canem Foundation fellow, and a Pushcart Prize nominee. A sought after speaker, she teaches at Capital Community College.

Antoinette Brim & Kenneth DiMaggio to read for the Wintonbury Poetry Series

Antoinette Brim will read from her forthcoming poetry collection, Icarus in Love, for the Wintonbury Poetry Series on Thursday, October 18, 2012.  Poet Kenneth DiMaggio will also be featured.  An Open Mike with follow.  Click here for more information and directions to the Mahon Wintonbury Library in Bloomfield, CT.

To order Icarus in Love at the discounted price of $8.50 reserved for advance orders, go to Main Street Rag Publishing Company’s “Coming Soon” page. Scroll down the page to find the Icarus in Love link. Click here to go to the “Coming Soon” page.

Jacqueline Jones LaMon praises Brim's "Icarus is Love"

Antoinette Brim’s, Icarus in Love, is a stellar collection full of the mythology of living. Utilizing vibrant, recurring images that braid their way through our hearts and memories, Brim raises hard questions of survival and offers hope to us all. With poems in conversation with the work of Neruda, Plath, Bishop and others, Brim skillfully employs the use of poetic form to confront the teetering circumstances of life. An important collection from a poet on the rise!

Jacqueline Jones LaMon 

Author of LAST SEEN and GRAVITY, U.S.A. 

To order Icarus in Love at the discounted price of $8.50 reserved for advance orders, go to Main Street Rag Publishing Company’s “Coming Soon” page. Scroll down the page to find the Icarus in Love link. Click here to go to the Main Street Rag Publishing Company “Coming Soon” page.

Brim reads poem from "Icarus in Love"

Antoinette Brim reads What is reflected in the koi pond in early evening from her collection Icarus in Love forthcoming from Main Street Rag Publishing Company in January 2013.

To order Icarus in Love at the discounted price of $8.50 reserved for advance orders, go to Main Street Rag Publishing Company's "Coming Soon" page.  Scroll down the page to find the Icarus in Love link. Click here to go to Main Street Rag Publishing Company's Coming Soon page.

Kwame Dawes praises "Icarus in Love" ...

“…this female brain is always keeping time…” In this love song, Icarus in Love, each word is packed with weight and consideration—such that when the poet speaks of keeping time, the keeping is the collecting, the cherishing, the reflecting, the shaping, and the adoration of time, of memory, of the future, of tradition, of art. Antoinette Brim enters emotions with optimism and hope of enlightenment, and often she achieves such in these poems. Yes, “…this female brain is always measuring…” the substance and nature of love.

To order Icarus in Love at the discounted price of $8.50 reserved for advance orders, go to Main Street Rag Publishing Company's "Coming Soon" page.  Scroll down the page to find the Icarus in Love link.

"Autumn Aubade" from "Icarus in Love"

Antoinette Brim reads Autumn Aubade from her collection Icarus in Love forthcoming from Main Street Rag Publishing Company in January 2013.  To order Icarus in Love at the discounted price of $8.50 reserved for advance orders, go to Main Street Rag Publishing Company's "Coming Soon" page. Scroll down the page to find the Icarus in Love link.

"Icarus in Love" coming in January 2013!

Antoinette Brim's second collection of poetry, Icarus in Love, is forthcoming from Main Street Rag Publishing Company in January 2013.  Order it now and receive the discounted price of $8.50 reserved for advance orders.  Click here to go Main Street Rag Publishing Company's "Coming Soon" page.  Scroll down the page to find the Icarus in Love link.

Brim is theblackbottom Tuesday Poet

theblackbottom.com is a blog dedicated to the critical discussion of African American politics and culture in Michigan, the Great Lakes region, and the United States as a whole.  This blog is located in West Michigan and operated out of Grand Rapids.  Click here to go to theblackbottom.

Antoinette Brim to read during the "Speaking for Others: Poetry on Social Justice" event at the Riverwood Poetry Festival

The "Speaking for Others: Poetry on Social Justice" event at the Harriet Beecher Stowe Center, 77 Forest St., Hartford from 2 to 4 p.m. "Speaking For Others" will feature four poets: Ralph Nazareth, Doug Anderson, Randall Horton and Antoinette Brim.  Click here to read the Hartford Courant article.

Attend the "Villanelles" New York Launch!

Come celebrate the release of Villanelles, an anthology published by Everyman's Library Pocket Poets. Hosted by co-editors Annie Finch and Marie-Elizabeth Mali, featuring Corrina Bain, Kate Bernadette Benedict, Bruce Bennett, Charles Bernstein, Tara Betts, Antoinette Brim, Lee Ann Brown, Cheryl Clarke, LaTasha Diggs, Timothy Donnelly, John Edminster, Charles Fort, Wendy Galgan, Suzanne Gardinier, Kimiko Hahn, Matthew Hittinger, Janet Kirchheimer, Kate Light, Timothy Liu, Taylor Mali, Charles Martin, Kamilah Aisha Moon, Mendi Lewis Obadike, Kathleen Ossip, Tad Richards, Robert Schecter, Robert Schultz, Evie Shockley. Discounted books available for purchase. $8 cover charge. For more information, click here!

The WordForge Reading Series Features Antoinette Brim & Kenneth DiMaggio

The WordForge Reading Series features Two Poets from Capital Community College: Antoinette Brim and Kenneth DiMaggio on February 13 at 7 PM. The WordForge Reading Series features local poets along with an open mike. All events are scheduled on Monday nights with a 7 p.m. start time. The location is Studio @ Billings Forge, 563 Broad Street, Hartford, CT 06106. Parking is available next to Firebox restaurant or along Broad Street.

For more information about the WordForge Reading Series, click here.

"Black Enough" included in "Villanelles." Anthology now available for pre-order!

Antoinette Brim's villanelle Black Enough is included in Villanelles edited by Annie Finch and Marie-Elizabeth Mali. The anthology is now available for pre-order through Amazon.com.

Description: The first of its kind--a comprehensive collection of the best of the villanelle, a delightful poetic form whose popularity ranks only behind that of the sonnet and the haiku. With its intricate rhyme scheme and dance-like pattern of repeating lines, its marriage of recurrence and surprise, the villanelle is a form that has fascinated poets since its introduction almost two centuries ago. Many well-known poets in the past have tried their hands at the villanelle, and the form is enjoying a revival among poets writing today. The poems collected here range from the classic villanelles of the nineteenth century to such famous and memorable examples as Dylan Thomas's "Do not go gentle into that good night," Elizabeth Bishop's "One Art," and Sylvia Plath's "Mad Girl's Love Song." Here too are the cutting-edge works of contemporary poets, including Sherman Alexie, Lorna Dee Cervantes, Rita Dove, Seamus Heaney, Paul Muldoon, and many others whose poems demonstrate the dazzling variety that can be found within the parameters of a single, strict form.


Click here to order.

2012 Split This Rock Poetry Festival Panels

Antoinette Brim will participate in two panels during the 2012 Split This Rock Poetry Festival in Washington, DC. These panels are:

Continuous Fire: A Panel on the Work of Sonia Sanchez

Friday, March 23, 2012 @ 2:00 PM

Description: Although her protest efforts and activism began as an architect and central figure in the Black Arts Movement, Sonia Sanchez’s poetry is not limited to that historical context. Over the last fifty years, her work has shaped and been in dialogue with several social movements: multiracial and third wave feminism, anti-militarism, the lesbian and gay movement, and the global peace movement. As an elder, her work spans several genres: poetry, drama, children’s books, eulogies of key national and world leaders/artists, articles, and essays. This panel allows the participants to illustrate Sanchez’s influence on a wide range of contemporary artists and activist initiatives.

Panelists include: Becky Thompson, DaMaris Hill, Antoinette Brim, Lita Hooper, Danielle Hall, Patricia Biela, and Sandra Staton-Tiawo.

Even in Polite Company: Women Write Their Own Truths

Saturday, March 24, 2012 @ 9:30 AM

Description: As young girls, many women were told that some things were not to be discussed in polite company. Subsequently, women’s issues and/or truths were discussed only amongst themselves in hushed whispers in hot kitchens, over scrub boards or on playgrounds. This resulted in shame and isolation. While networks of women are affirming and necessary to the mental, emotional, physical and financial health of women as a whole, the absence of open, plain talk about women’s issues leaves a void in the social and political dialogue. Issues left out of the national dialogue are left out of the legal, legislative and budgetary dialogues, as well. Subsequently, as a demographic, women are often left unprotected. This panel discussion will focus on the necessity of writing about feminist/womanist issues in a nation leaning toward conservatism; teaching women’s issues in co-ed classrooms and the perils for women writers who unreservedly write and speak their truth in polite company.

Panelists include: Antoinette Brim, Lita Hooper, Demetrice Anntia Worley, Niki Herd and Renee Simms.

For more information about the Split This Rock Poetry Festival, visit: http://www.splitthisrock.org/festival2012/festival2012.html