Nylon Honors Black Poetry Day by Inviting Poets to Share Their Faves

In honor of Black Poetry Day, which is today, October 17, Nylon has asked 10 black poets to share, and write about, their favorite poems.  The holiday "was established in 1985 and is meant to celebrate black poets both past and present. October 17 is also the birthday of Jupiter Hammon, the first published black poet in the United States. Legit holiday or not, we’ll take any excuse we can to highlight black poets and black poetry; we shouldn’t need a reason or a specific day to do so." Nylon has included Yrsa Daley-Ward, Jayson Smith, Bettina Judd, Joshua Bennett, Kyla Marshell, Nate Marshall, Danez Smith, Camonghne Felix, Jericho Brown, and Alysia Harris. Felix picked a winner in our book:

“My favorite book of poems is The Feel Trio by Fred Moten. Fred Moten is one of my biggest inspirations, because he allows a freedom in his language that invites historicity, and encourages the reader to get into their own body and think of language as an organ. I first dived into Fred Moten when I was a first-year in grad school, and the impact of The Feel Trio on my work is ever-legible. It taught me how to play with white space, both physical and literary. One day, I was a poet. The next morning, I was a historical strategist.”

Read all the picks at Nylon.