Panels

The Master's Tools: Aesthetics and Poetry of the African Diaspora

Farah Griffin, with Elizabeth Alexander, James DeJongh, Yusef Komunyakaa, Greg Tate

Who/what defines aesthetics in the twenty-first century? Is there one aesthetic or multiple aesthetics? If one, what are the ramifications for a poet working outside of its components? If multiple, can they be reconciled to create a critical standard? Can the Western philosophy of aesthetics encompass poets outside of that tradition? If so, how? If so, should it? In a contemporary age, is there such a thing as a poet outside of the Western (dominant) tradition? Should/can poets, who are the descendants of African slaves in the New World, resist the tradition of aesthetics? If so, why/how? How, if to any extent, does/should audience and the publishing industry shape aesthetics? Is the historical record of how poets of the African Diaspora dealt with aesthetics of any value in a contemporary dialogue? What is the individual poet's role in the creation of aesthetics?

S/HE/IT: The Poetics of Gender

Moderated by Nagueyalti Warren, with Jan Clausen, Nikky Finney, Tyehimba Jess

If sex is biologically determined whereas gender is induced by society as a means of social control, how do certain poems stress the creation and/or alteration of gender identity? Does poetics, meter and the art of versification, express gender? What of masculine and feminine endings? What difference does gender make in writing, reading, and conceptualizing a poem? How does gender function in a poem? Is gender determined by the poem's persona or by the poet? Are certain subjects more likely to be addressed by male rather than by female poets? Is there a feminine poetic—certain words used and owned by women—or a masculine one?

Blackness and the Sounds of Other Colors: New Media and African American Poetics

Moderated by Evie Shockley, with Tonya Foster, Duriel Harris, Mendi + Keith Obadike

What is new media poetry?

As the 21st century brings us increasing opportunities to explore the complexity of Black experience, we poets may find ourselves in need, or interested in taking advantage, of the new tools technology offers for making poems that express our "blackness" (however defined) or communicate any other ideas that our minds engage. What examples exist currently of black new media poetry (including hypertext poems, sound poems, video-poems, interactive installation-based works, virtual reality environments)? Is there a community of black new media poets (or artists?) and, if so, how can interested poets enter that space? How does one gain the technical expertise necessary to use new media technology? Are there "low-tech" forms of new media that can be accessed by those without the money or institutional privilege to buy/use expensive equipment? Do new media forms challenge our conventional notions of creativity? Do new media poets have different approaches to process than poets who work primarily towards written and/or performance pieces? What is the role of words in a new media poem? How do we envision the future relationship between new media and African American and diasporic African aesthetics and expressive arts practice?

The Politics of Poetry

Moderated by Tracie Morris, with Miguel Algarin, Nuar Alsadir, Elena Georgiou, and Erica Hunt

The construction of the poem comes from the writer's vision and their circumstance. In this panel we will discuss the context in which artists write emphasizing the societal power dynamics which affect poetry overtly and subtly. The politics of poetry goes beyond the poet who reads a compelling piece at a political rally. At what point does the political environment (however it's defined at the time) affect the techniques poets use and the poetics they employ? How does experimentation, unconventional applications, narrative structure, poetic play on description, sound and structure engage or disengage from the surrounding political issues of the day? Can poetic conservatism provide a response to political conservatism? Does avant garde poetry always imply transgression of the social order? This collection of poets will discuss the various points at which poetry and politics intersect and diverge. At this highly politically charged historical moment, we will discuss some poetic impulses. In addition to thinking about the politics of poetics, we will also consider the different cultural forces that affect poets and the poetry they make in America and internationally.

Inner Workings

Moderated by Phebus Etienne, with Gloria Burgess, Ross Gay, Jacqueline Johnson, Dante Micheaux, Ronaldo V. Wilson

Stanley Kunitz once said, “When you are in tension between the incantations and sense, you must say what you can say when it is there.” Many poets would agree that we write because we must. But what happens within a poet before writing the first line? Cave Canem Fellows discuss spirituality, the physical body, discipline and other issues related to the internal process of writing poetry.

Outer Workings

Moderated by John Keene, with Douglas Kearney, Cherryl Floyd-Miller, Greg Pardlo, giovanni singleton, Yolanda Wisher

So you're a poet. How does your poetry manifest itself in the world and help you get by? Our panelists kick off a conversation about the ways in which publishing, teaching, playwriting, translation, and performance can give your words and wisdom a broad, public life. The floor will be open to all ideas on creating a larger bandwidth for poetry, and on how your writing can support you.