Angel Nafis
Angel Nafis | |
---|---|
![]() Angel Nafis in 2014 | |
Born | December 1988 Ann Arbor, Michigan |
Occupation | poet and spoken word artist |
Language | English |
Nationality | American |
Education | Hunter College (BA), Warren Wilson College (MFA candidate) |
Genre | spoken word poetry |
Notable works | BlackGirl Mansion |
Notable awards |
|
Partner | Shira Erlichman |
Angel Nafis (born December 1988)[1] is an American poet and spoken word artist. She is the author of BlackGirl Mansion (Red Beard Press / New School Poetics, 2012).[2] She lives in Brooklyn, New York.
Early life[]
Nafis grew up in Ann Arbor, Michigan,[3] where she attended Huron High School.[4] She struggled through school, but graduated in 2006.[5][4] She was on the Ann Arbor Youth Poetry Slam Team in 2005 and 2006.[4]
She was raised Muslim.[6] Her mother died when she was young, so she was raised by her father.[5] Her father's family was from New York and Georgia.[7] Her mother's family was from Chicago and Mississippi.[7]
Education[]
Nafis earned her BA at Hunter College, and is an MFA candidate in poetry at Warren Wilson College.[2][8]
Career[]
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/4c/686_Fulton_Street_Brooklyn_NY_assorted_photos_near_Fulton_Street_26_Greenlight_Bookstore.jpg/220px-686_Fulton_Street_Brooklyn_NY_assorted_photos_near_Fulton_Street_26_Greenlight_Bookstore.jpg)
Nafis is a Cave Canem fellow, the recipient of a Millay Colony residency, and the founder and curator of the Greenlight Bookstore Poetry Salon's readings and writing workshops.[2][9]
With poet Morgan Parker, she runs The Other Black Girl Collective, a Black feminist poetry duo that tours internationally.[2][8]
Her work has appeared in outlets including the BreakBeat Poets Anthology, Buzzfeed Reader, the Rumpus, Poetry, FOUND Magazine’s Requiem for a Paper Bag, Decibels, The Rattling Wall, Union Station Magazine, The Bear River Review, MUZZLE Magazine, Prelude Mag, Sixth Finch, and Mosaic Magazine.[8][10][11][12][13]
Personal life[]
Nafis lives in Brooklyn[14] with artist, writer, and musician Shira Erlichman, with whom she is in a relationship.[2][15] Together, they toured for the "Odes for You" tour.[16][17][18][19][20]
In June 2020, Nafis and hundreds of other poets signed an open letter to the Poetry Foundation asking for the immediate resignation of both president Henry Bienen and board of trustees chair Willard Bunn III, as well as other demands relating to the foundation's response to the murder of George Floyd.[21]
Awards and honors[]
- Ruth Lilly and Dorothy Sargent Rosenberg Poetry Fellowship from the Poetry Foundation (2016)[2][22]
- NEA Creative Writing fellowship[8]
Bibliography[]
Books[]
- BlackGirl Mansion (Red Beard Press/ New School Poetics, 2012).[2]
Selected list of published poems[]
Title | Year | Publication/anthology | Reprinted/collected |
---|---|---|---|
"Love on Flatbush Avenue" | 2018 | Black Girl Magic (The BreakBeat Poets Vol. 2), Haymarket Books, 1st ed. 119. | |
"Ghazal for Becoming Your Own Country" | 2016 | Poetry Foundation[23] | Black Girl Magic (The BreakBeat Poets Vol. 2), Haymarket Books, 1st ed. 194. |
"When I Realize I’m Wearing My Girlfriend’s Ex-Girlfriend’s Panties" | brooklynpoets.org[8] | ||
"Woo Woo Roll Deep" | 2017 | BuzzFeed News[24] | |
"Angel Nafis" | Poetry Foundation[25] | ||
"Omen to Get Your Ass Up" | 2017 | them.us[26] | |
"Ode to Shea Butter" | Prelude Mag[27] | ||
"Ode to Lois" | Prelude Mag[12] | ||
"Ode to Voicemail" | 2015 | Sixth Finch[28] | |
"Why R&B First Thing In The Morning, Why R&B Above All" | 2015 | The Rumpus[29] | |
"Angel's Heart Clowns the Ocean" | Muzzle Magazine[30] | Performed at the Bowery Poetry Club in 2011 | |
"King of Kreations" | 2018 | poetry.org[31] | |
"Angel's Heart Reasons with Her Dad" | Muzzle Magazine[32] | ||
"I Know I’m Pretty Cuz The Boys Tell Me So" | 2007 | The Bear River Review[33] | |
"Directions to Finding You" | 2009 | Requiem For a Paper Bag Anthology[33] | |
"Tarbaby Fly" | 2012 | The Rattling Wall[33] | |
"Open" | 2012 | The Rattling Wall[33] | |
"Ghazal for My Sister" | 2013 | Mosaic Magazine[33] | The BreakBeat Poets Anthology (Haymarket Books, 2015)[33] |
"Betty Boop" | 2013 | Mosaic Magazine[33] | |
"Legend" | 2015 | The BreakBeat Poets Anthology (Haymarket Books, 2015)[33] | |
"Gravity" | 2015 | The BreakBeat Poets Anthology (Haymarket Books, 2015)[33] | |
"Conspiracy" | 2015 | The BreakBeat Poets Anthology (Haymarket Books, 2015)[33] |
References[]
- ^ ""So if I am a tender writer... then my poems should be everything that I am." An interview with Angel Nafis". Catapult. 2018-10-23. Retrieved 2020-06-21.
- ^ a b c d e f g "Angel Nafis". Poetry Foundation. 2020-06-21. Retrieved 2020-06-21.
- ^ Storey, Kate (2013-04-26). "Tales from the 20s". New York Post. Retrieved 2020-06-23.
- ^ a b c "Huron graduate Angel Nafis wins national poetry fellowship". AAPS District News. 2016-09-08. Retrieved 2020-06-21.
- ^ a b "Why I teach creative writing". AnnArbor.com. Retrieved 2020-06-21.
- ^ "Dinnerview: Angel Nafis". entropymag.org. Retrieved 2020-06-21.
- ^ a b "The Conversation: Angel Nafis, Safia Elhillo, and Elizabeth Acevedo". The Rumpus.net. 2016-03-30. Retrieved 2020-06-21.
- ^ a b c d e "Angel Nafis". Brooklyn Poets. 2018-07-19. Retrieved 2020-06-21.
- ^ Young, Yolanda. "These Queer Poets Expand on Black Life Through Their Work". The Root. Retrieved 2020-06-21.
- ^ "Angel Nafis – Heels on Wheels". Retrieved 2020-06-21.
- ^ "People | Angel Nafis | The Heyman Center for the Humanities at Columbia University". heymancenter.org. Retrieved 2020-06-23.
- ^ a b "Ode to Lois". Prelude. Retrieved 2020-06-23.
- ^ "Sixth Finch - Fall 2015 - Angel Nafis - ODE TO VOICEMAIL". sixthfinch.com. Retrieved 2020-06-23.
- ^ Coates, Tyler (2016-09-27). "30 Under 30: Angel Nafis". Brooklyn Magazine. Retrieved 2020-06-21.
- ^ Ogunseitan, Coryna (3 March 2017). "#relationshipgoals". yaledailynews.com. Retrieved 2020-06-21.
- ^ "Eight Black LGBTQ Poets to Give Your Flowers To Right Now". Autostraddle. 2020-02-19. Retrieved 2020-06-26.
- ^ "The Odes for You tour featuring Shira Erlichman & Angel Nafis". Women & Children First. 2017-01-09. Retrieved 2020-06-26.
- ^ "Wisconsin Book Festival". Wisconsin Book Festival. Retrieved 2020-06-26.
- ^ "Poetry at Literati: Angel Nafis and Shira Erlichman | Literati Bookstore". www.literatibookstore.com. 5 January 2017. Retrieved 2020-06-26.
- ^ "Odes for You Tour Co-Sponsored by Poetry Center of Chicago". The Chicago Poetry Center. 2017-02-05. Retrieved 2020-06-26.
- ^ "Poets Call for Change at Poetry Foundation". www.publishersweekly.com. Retrieved 2020-06-26.
- ^ "2016 Ruth Lilly and Dorothy Sargent Rosenberg Poetry Fellowship Winners Announced - Gay Lesbian Bi Trans News Archive". Windy City Times. September 2016. Retrieved 2020-06-26.
- ^ "Ghazal for Becoming Your Own Country by Angel Nafis". Poetry Magazine. 2020-06-22. Retrieved 2020-06-23.
- ^ "Poem: "Woo Woo Roll Deep"". BuzzFeed News. Retrieved 2020-06-21.
- ^ "Angel Nafis by Angel Nafis". Poetry Magazine. 2020-06-22. Retrieved 2020-06-23.
- ^ Nafis, Angel (24 December 2017). "A Poem for Your Tired Queer Ass". them. Retrieved 2020-06-23.
- ^ "Ode to Shea Butter". Prelude. Retrieved 2020-06-23.
- ^ "Sixth Finch - Fall 2015 - Angel Nafis - ODE TO VOICEMAIL". sixthfinch.com. Retrieved 2020-06-23.
- ^ "National Poetry Month Day 31: "Why R&B First Thing In The Morning, Why R&B Above All" by Angel Nafis". The Rumpus.net. 2015-05-01. Retrieved 2020-06-23.
- ^ "Angel Nafis1". Muzzle Magazin. Retrieved 2020-06-23.
- ^ "King of Kreations by Angel Nafis". poets.org. Academy of American Poets. Retrieved 2020-06-23.
- ^ "Angel Nafis2". Muzzle Magazine. Retrieved 2020-06-23.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j "Publications / Press". Angel Nafis. Retrieved 2020-06-23.
- Poets from Michigan
- Writers from Ann Arbor, Michigan
- African-American poets
- Hunter College alumni
- LGBT African Americans
- 1988 births
- Living people
- Writers from Brooklyn
- American LGBT poets
- Slam poets
- African-American women writers
- 21st-century American poets
- American spoken word artists
- African-American educators
- LGBT people from Michigan
- LGBT women
- 21st-century African-American women
- 21st-century African-American people
- African-American feminists
- LGBT feminists
- American feminist writers
- American Muslims
- Muslim poets
- African-American Muslims
- LGBT Muslims
- African-American women musicians
- 20th-century African-American people
- 21st-century LGBT people
- 20th-century African-American women