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“Most African American poets, if they had their druthers, would rather be musicians,” says Everette Hoagland, the first Poet Laureate of New Bedford, Massachusetts. “Ours is a spirituality with what we call flava. In every subgenre—be it the spirituals that come out of work songs, be it the blues, be it jazz—one follows the other, takes its trajectory from the other.”
Hoagland is interviewed at length in the Winter 2024 issue of Brilliant Corners, where he discusses various people who mentored him, including Langston Hughes (high school) and Michael Harper (graduate school), as well as his relationships with such writers as Gil Scott- Heron and Amiri Baraka.
As usual, the conversation was conducted by the journal’s founding editor, Sascha Feinstein, Ph.D., Robert L. & Charlene Shangraw Professor of English at Lycoming College. “For many decades,” Feinstein said, “Hoagland has proven himself to be a truly soulful voice in American poetics, and one cannot have a significant conversation about his work without also discussing what he calls The Music—jazz.”
“For many decades, Hoagland has proven himself to be a truly soulful voice in American poetics, and one cannot have a significant conversation about his work without also discussing what he calls The Music—jazz.”
The author of many poetry collections, including The Music: New and Selected Poems 1973 – 2023, Hoagland has received scores of honors, among them the Gwendolyn Brooks Award, The Langston Hughes Society Award, The Stephen Henderson Award from The African American Literature and Culture Society, and the 2023 American Book Award for Poetry.
The issue also features poetry by Ira Sadoff, Tobi Alfier, Al Basile, Chuck Sweetman, Robert Gibb, and Michael Waters. Jim Martin, who died shortly before this publication, contributed two poems as well as an essay on his poetry and jazz experiences on the West Coast in the ’50s. Matthew Duffus provides an essay on Wynton Marsalis. The cover art is by Thorpe Feidt (1940 – 2024).
Brilliant Corners is a biannual journal that highlights an exceptional collection of literature and art pertaining to jazz. Founded in 1996, the journal bears strong ties to Lycoming College, with contributors such as Feinstein, who serves as the managing editor, and Gary R. Hafer, Ph.D., Professor Emeritus of English at Lycoming College, who serves as the production design editor. The publication is funded in part by the College, the Pennsylvania Council of the Arts, and private endowments.
A subscription costs $12 per year ($18 for international orders), and checks or money can be sent to Brilliant Corners, Lycoming College, 1 College Place, Williamsport, PA 17701. More information can be found at www.lycoming.edu/BrilliantCorners or on Brilliant Corners’ Facebook page.