Category Archives: Chicago Writing
Introduction to Black Writing from Chicago – Part 1
Note: I have divided my nearly-3500 word introduction to my book Black Writing from Chicago into two parts for this website. Part 1 begins with a quote from Gwendolyn Brooks about her objection to the term “African-American.” It’s my justification … Continue reading
Useni Eugene Perkins: The Artist as Social Activist
In his introduction to Perkins’ latest book Images and Memories: Selected Poems, Haki Madhubuti says that, “Of the Chicago writers to emerge out of the dynamic sixties, [Perkins] is one of the few who embraced the mission of cultural worker/artist/activist.” … Continue reading
Carlos Cumpian: Everyday Apocalypses
Below listen to Carlos Cumpian read “When Jesus Walked,” one of two Cumpian poems I included in Smokestacks and Skyscrapers: An Anthology of Chicago Writing. One of the country’s finest Hispanic-Latino-American poets (a designation clumsy but inaccurate and made up … Continue reading