ABR: How did you develop an interest in writing poetry and where does your inspiration to write poems come from? WABUKE: Poetry was my first love, but it took me a long, circular time to be strong in the work. I wrote my first poem when I was six. It was about an elephant named […]
Today we welcome the long anticipated 2nd novel from Kimbilio faculty member Dolen Perkins-Valdez. Here’s what Publisher’s Weekly says: The elegantly crafted second novel from Perkins-Valdez (after Wench) captures the fierce energy, diversity, and suffering of Civil War–era Chicago. At its heart are three strangers—two black, one white—whose lives intersect after each arrives in their […]
Novelist Tayari Jones talked with Ravi Howard on the occasion of the publication of his latest book,“Driving the King.” This is their conversation. Tayari Jones: So first off, how is the weather down there? Ravi Howard: I almost hate to say it to people who are not down here, but we got into the 60s […]
THE RUMPUS INTERVIEW WITH BRIAN GILMORE BY KIMA JONES October 14th, 2014 As the events in Ferguson, MO unfolded this August, I joined millions of other Americans to watch it play out on Twitter. This is all we knew: a young unarmed black man was shot, repeatedly, by a white police officer. The young man’s […]
David Haynes is a true visionary. When the Dean of Southern Methodist University asked him to name the one thing he would work on if given the chance, Haynes said he would found a Center for African American fiction to increase diversity in literature and publishing. The Dean said yes, and David Haynes went to […]
Check out these pictures of our talented Kimbilio Fellows from our first ever Kimbilio Retreat this past summer…more to come! And thanks to Amina, Renee, Desiree, and Diana for capturing these memories on film!
Half Nigerian, half Ghanian, born in London, raised in Boston, now living in Rome…mentored by Toni Morrison and Salman Rushdie…it makes sense the whole world is now talking about Taiye Selasi and her debut novel released this year: Ghana Must Go. She has already been named one of Britain’s top young novelists, written for the Guardian, and […]
