Furious Flower Poetry Center

The Furious Flower Poetry Center is the first academic center in the United States devoted to African American poetry. The center is a part of the honors program at James Madison University. Dr. Joanne V. Gabbin is the current executive director.

History

The Furious Flower Poetry Center (FFPC) was established by Joanne V. Gabbin in 1999[1] at James Madison University. The name of the center comes from Gwendolyn Brooks' poem, "Second Sermon on the Warpland." In the poem she writes,

The time

cracks into furious flower. Lifts its face

all unashamed. And sways in wicked grace[2].

Gabbin was the director of the James Madison University's Honors Program. She hosted the first Furious Flower Poetry Conference in 1994. It was the United States first scholarly conference on Black poetry. After the success of the second Furious Flower Conference in 2004, James Madison granted FFPC its charter. Through this charter, FFPC became the first academic center in the United States devoted to Black Poetry. Today the center is committed to “cultivating, honoring, and promoting the diverse voices of African American poets by making the genre accessible to a wide audience and collaborating with educational and cultural institutions, literary organizations, and artists.”[1]

Conferences

Since its establishment, the FFPC has held three decennial conferences: "A Revolution in African American Poetry" (1994), "Regenerating the Black Poetic Tradition" (2004), and "Seeding the Future of African American Poetry" (2014). Each conference features African American poets and scholars readings, which are free and open to the public.

Seeding the Future of African American Poetry

The third conference held by FFPC was September 24–27, 2014 at James Madison. The FFPC dedicated the conference to Rita Dove. The conference also recognized literary trailblazers Toi Derricotte, Michael Harper, Yusef Komunyakaa, Marilyn Nelson, Ishmael Reed, and Quincy Troupe with Lifetime Achievement Awards.[3]

Furious Flower: Regenerating the Black Poetic Tradition

The second conference by the FFPC was held on September 22–25, 2004.[4] This conference was held ten years after the first. Dr. Joanne Gabbin dedicated the conference to Amiri Baraka and Sonia Sanchez. They were architects of the Black Arts Movement. More than 50 poets and scholars shared their works and spoke on Black poetry. After this conference, James Madison established the Furious Flower Poetry Center and Gabbin became the executive director.

Publications

  • Shaping Memories: Reflections of African American Women Writers, University Press of Mississippi August 11, 2009
  • Mourning Katrina: A Poetic Response to Tragedy, Mariner Media January 5, 2009
  • Furious Flower: African American Poetry from the Black Arts Movement to the Present, University of Virginia Press February 13, 2004
  • The Furious Flower of African American Poetry, University of Virginia Press July 29, 1999
  • The Painted Word: African American Poets Notecards, Pomegranate 2004
  • Rita Dove's "Ode to My Right Knee" Broadside, Virginia Arts of the Book with Furious Flower Poetry Center 2014[5]

References

  1. 1 2 "Furious Flower Poetry Center Records - James Madison University Libraries". Lib.jmu.edu. Retrieved 23 September 2017.
  2. ↑ Brooks, Gwendolyn. 1988. The second sermon on the warpland: for Walter Bradford. [Tucson, Ariz.]: Chax Press.
  3. ↑ Mott, Karen Risch. "Furious Flower Conference, September 24~27, 2014". Jmu.edu. Retrieved 23 September 2017.
  4. ↑ "2004 Furious Flower Poetry Conference". Jmu.edu. Retrieved 23 September 2017.
  5. ↑ "Books & Printed Materials". Jmu.edu. Retrieved 23 September 2017.
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