In celebration of Black History Month, Poets on the Plaza and the Wicomico Public Libraries present a series that spotlights the African American poetic tradition's history, innovations, and power. This special edition features a reading co-produced by Salisbury Poet Laureate Nancy Mitchell and Dr. April Logan, Associate Professor of English at Salisbury University. Poets include Dr. Logan, Frank X. Walker, Shauna Morgan, and Sharif T. Lacey (better known as Reef the Lost Cauze).
Dr. April Logan: Dr. April C. Logan is an activist and associate professor of English at Salisbury. Her critical work and poetry have been published and featured in Frontiers in Children’s Literature, edited by Linda Salem and Dorothy Clark, The Pierian Literary Journal, and The Parliament Literary Journal. In addition, she is Vice President (and former President) of the Pauline Elizabeth Hopkins Society
Frank X Walker: The first African American writer to be named Kentucky Poet Laureate, Frank X Walker is Professor of English and African American and Africana Studies at the University of Kentucky where he coined the term “Affrilachia” and co-founded the Affrilachian Poets. He has published eleven collections of poetry, including Turn Me Loose: The Unghosting of Medgar Evers, winner of an NAACP Image Award and the Black Caucus American Library Association Honor Award. His most recent collection is Masked Man, Black: Pandemic & Protest Poems.
Shauna Morgan: A poet and scholar of Africana literature, Dr. Shauna Morgan is an associate professor at Howard University in Washington, D.C. with critical work published in Journal of Postcolonial Writing, South Atlantic Review, Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies, and elsewhere. Her poetry has appeared in A Gathering Together, Interviewing the Caribbean, A Literary Field Guide to Southern Appalachia, among other periodicals and anthologies. Her chapbook, Fear of Dogs and Other Animals, was published by Central Square Press.
Reef The Lost Cauze: Reef is an underground hip hop artist based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Cauze became well known on the underground circuit towards the late 1990s and more so in the early 2000s, making his mark by winning many battle competitions within New York and interstate and displaying rare skills of what many called true MCing. Releasing The High Life album in 2001, Cauze moved on by teaming up with his past partners and friends and released The Invisible Empire in 2003 to much critical acclaim and thus establishing his name amongst many circles and true hip hop heads, as well as the underground. Feast or Famine was released in 2005 again to positive critical reception, as well as his side project, The Torture Papers, being part of the rap/hip-hop supergroup Army of the Pharaohs in 2006. Reef is also part of hip hop underground groups; JuJu Mob & Army of the Pharaohs.
*You must pre-register to get the Zoom code for this event by Thursday, February 18 at 9 a.m. Zoom information will be sent out on Thursday morning.
