Kemi Alabi’s Manuscript, Against Heaven, Wins Academy of American Poets First Book Award

The American poet Claudia Rankine, who picked it as winner, called it “energetic and brilliant.”
Kemi Alabi by Ally Almore.

Kemi Alabi by Ally Almore.

Kemi Alabi’s Manuscript, Against Heaven, Wins Academy of American Poets First Book Award

Against Heaven, the Chicago-based poet and cultural worker Kemi Alabi’s full-length poetry manuscript, has been selected by Claudia Rankine as the winner of the 2021 Academy of American Poets First Book Award, America’s “most valuable first-book prize for a poet.”

The prize includes publication of the manuscript, $5,000 to Alabi, a six-week fully-funded residency in a 15th century castle in Umbria, Italy. The Academy of American Poets will also buy and send thousands of copies of the book to its members.

Against Heaven activates multiple lexicons, seeking to construct the immensity of black queer subjectivity with guile and formal virtuosity,” Claudia Rankine said. “At once sonic and disruptive, these poems pull together everything in a world where nothing is sacred. In this energetic and brilliant debut, the thrust of the lyric dislodges all that is stuck and stagnant, creating new possibilities for utterance.”

Founded in 1975, the Academy of American Poets’ First Book Award has helped to bring the work of many emerging poets to a wide audience. Nicole Cooley, Alberto Rios, and Jenny Xie are among previous winners.

Kemi Alabi, born in Wisconsin in 1990, holds a BA in Philosophy and Political Science from Boston University. Their work has received a Pushcart Prize, the 2020 Beacon Street Poetry Prize, a Best of the Net, and has appeared in, among other places, The Atlantic, Poetry, and Boston Review.

Against Heaven will be published by Graywolf Press in April 2022.

...

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Recommendation

In his first interview in three years, the Open Country Mag editor opened up on a range of issues in African and global literature, from The New York Times’ exclusion of Africans from its “Best Books of the 21st Century” list to the need for “sustained critical thinking about the state of Nigeria and Africa.”
Staged by the Malawian artist Mirriam Francesca Nkosi, with sponsorship by Africa No Filter, it “focused on preserving, celebrating, and documenting these native plants and the traditional knowledge associated with them.”
Hosted by the East African activist Name Redacted, with sponsorship by Africa No Filter, “conversations like these provide a counter-narrative to predominant Western narratives of ‘coming out.'”

“An ambitious new magazine committed to African literature”

— Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

Join 25,000+ subscribers to essential, in-depth stories in African literature, Nigerian film, & culture: inspiring Profiles, incisive reviews, thought-provoking features & conversations that happen nowhere else. It's premium access to the visions of changemakers, from icons to emerging voices. Plus key industry stories from Folio Nigeria by CNN.

We respect your privacy and will never send you Spam or sell your email.

Search

Top