Dear friends, Happy Pride Month! June is a special time to celebrate the love and revolutionary spirit that brought us to today and will carry us forward. Everyone is entitled to a peaceful and supported existence as they are. Sadly, there is a lot of work that still needs to be done to make that life possible for everyone. I have faith that together we will! Love will win! Period! May this month, and every month, find you whole and full of joy. Check out this digital anthology, Poems of Queer Liberation, on Poets.org. Share a poem. Spread love. Onward with love, Amanda P.S. Click the flag below. |
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ACC Juneteenth Celebration June 18, 2021 Join me and this incredible gathering of poets, musicians, and speakers for this virtual celebration brought to you by Austin Community College. | | |
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NERDACITY PODCAST LIVE ON IG June 20, 2021 I'm excited to join DuEwa Frazier LIVE on IG for her Nerdacity Podcast Summer of the Word Poetry Series. Follow on Instagram @nerdacitypodcast and save the date to join the fun! June 20, 2021 / 1:00 PM EST / 12:00 PM CST / 10:00 AM PST. | | |
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Cave Canem is 25! June 13 - 19, 2021 Register for these free public events to celebrate our home for black poets. | | |
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JUNE 2021 READ WITH ME WINNER Each month, as a thank you to my subscribers, I'm doing a #ReadWithMe drawing and one lucky subscriber will win a copy of a book by a poet I love. This month's book is I Can't Talk About the Trees Without the Blood by Tiana Clark and the winner is Tina Lee! Read "Bear Witness" from the book below. Click the link to purchase your copy. | | |
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Bear Witness by Tiana Clark after Carrie Mae Weems's Roaming series Before I knew how to fill my onyx body with slick measures, dip every curve in my skin with dark sway, I needed a picture. Before me stood a long black dress I called Woman— you stand opaque with your back to me, a statue of witness, the door of Yes— I can Return to the monument of your silhouette to find my longest muscle. We both stare down the ocean to stillness. O, Carrie— what are you trying to tell me here? I've been standing by water my whole damn life trying to get saved. Enter Amanda's #ReadWithMe giveaway. Subscribe to her monthly newsletter. |
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AUDIO - The Deep End Friends Listen to this throwback audio of my sit-down interview with Anastacia Renee and Reagan Jackson on their podcast The Deep End Friends. We talk art, identity, queerness, and poetry. | | |
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This groundbreaking collection highlights work from poets who have written verse within the growing tradition of Afrofuturism, including Terrance Hayes, Lucille Clifton, Gill Scott-Heron, A. Van Jordan, Glenis Redmond, Tracy K. Smith, Amanda Johnston and more! | | |
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Amanda Johnston’s first book sings with the passion of our great warrior poets. I hear the down-to-earth clarity of June Jordan, the passion of Sonia Sanchez, the self-assuredness and rage of Audre Lorde. While Johnston’s poems bring to light grave and unending traumas in the wake of slavery, for me, they are hopeful. They reassure me of a fierce connective tissue between us (embodied in many of her poems as mother love) that would lift a truck from the body of a child to save her. Johnston’s poems apply just the right degree of salve and just the right degree of fire to our current American wounds. A beautifully crafted, fierce and compelling voice. - Toi Derricotte | | |
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Want to bring Amanda to your event? Let's connect! Available for online readings, adult and youth workshops, seminars, and speaking engagements. Press Kit | | |
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Cave Canem Foundation is near and dear to my heart. As a fellow and current board member, I know firsthand how Cave Canem supports Black poets with the necessary time, space, and encouragement needed to dream, create, and grow. Thank you for your continued support for this "home for black poetry." | | |
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