Furious Flower [click here to download all the stories you see below]

The call and response are historic. Poets, like pilgrims, converge on the campus of JMU; the high fliers, scholars and hopefuls lock in an embrace of literary passion. Their achievements glitter like chairms on a literary bracelet. The poetry they create is music. [Photos by C.B. Claiborne, Diane Elliott ('00), Lynda Koolish and Bret Lemon ('06).]

Alive and in person

Poets and scholars bring to life the black poetic tradition -- from the first-known slave narratives of the 1700s to the Harlem Renaissance of the 1930s to the Black Arts Movement of the 1960s, right up to the present.

Who's who?

The luminaries of African-American poetry gather at JMU. Here's an introduction to just a few of them and the impact of their work on literature today.

Portrait quilt

Atlanta artist Malaika Favorite honors the'patron saints and peers' of African-American poetry with a portrait quilt commissioned for the conference.

Joanne Gabbin on diversity

The Furious Flower creator talks about diversity at JMU and poetry's capacity to transform.

Poems

Three of the many poems read at Furious Flower by the poets, including Lucille Clifton, Yusef Komunyakaa and Opal Moore.

Does he hate me?
Student Lisa Freedman ('05) explores the poetry and anger of Black Arts Movement pioneer and controversial poet Amiri Baraka.

Poet Nikky Finney

The key is empathy: A poet from the middle ground talks about writing and being human.

Blossom in the Whirlwind

Working with Honors Program Director Joanne Gabbin in JMU classrooms for nine months, Eric Quander ('93) created Blossom in the Whirlwind: The Bard meets Black and Unknown Bards. The play premiered at the Blackfriars and kicked off Furious Flower.

Caught up in the whirlwind

Student Wesli Spencer ('06) talks about his intense experience rehearsing for Blossom in the Whirlwind with the successful alumni serving as playwright, choreographer and director.