Kevin Coval

He calls himself a "breakbeat poet" whose love of hip-hop "brought [him] back to Judaism".[1] Besides a poet, he is an activist, and the director of the Robert Boone-founded Young Chicago Authors, and the Louder Than a Bomb slam poetry festival.[2]

Kevin Coval (with cap) at the Kalamazoo Public Library.

Kevin Coval is an American poet.

His 2017 collection A People's History of Chicago, whose title is inspired by Howard Zinn's A People's History of the United States, comments in 77 poems, one for each neighborhood in Chicago, on the city, its history, and the people that live in it, from its Native American beginnings and its appropriation by whites to the present day, the inauguration of Rahm Emanuel and the World Series win by the Chicago Cubs. Along the way he comments on Robert de LaSalle's mispronunciation of the Native American word "checagou", which he bastardizes with his "misshapen mouth", erasing its original history.[1]

References
  1. Gyarkye, Lovia (April 20, 2017). "A Poet's History of Chicago: Kevin Coval's new collection creates community through history". The New Republic. Retrieved April 26, 2017.
  2. Fragassi, Selena (March 26, 2017). "Kevin Coval book, mission reveals 'People's History of Chicago'". Chicago Sun-Times. Retrieved April 26, 2017.
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