Literature
Jamaal May
born 1982 · poet, editor, teacher
Detroit poet of Hum and The Big Book of Exit Strategies, who taught poetry in Detroit public schools and co-founded the small press Organic Weapon Arts.
- Born
Detroit, Michigan
age 44- Detroit years
- 1982–2010s
- Field
- Literature
01 / The Detroit story
The Detroit story
May was born in Detroit in 1982 and came up through the city's spoken-word and literary scene, citing fellow Detroit poet Vievee Francis as a mentor. Before and after earning an MFA at Warren Wilson College he worked as a writer-in-residence with InsideOut Literary Arts, teaching poetry to students in Detroit public schools. With Tarfia Faizullah he co-founded Organic Weapon Arts, a Detroit-based press and video series that published his chapbook The Whetting of Teeth. His first full collection, Hum (2013), which pits machines and silence against the noise of the city, won the Beatrice Hawley Award and an American Library Association Notable Book honor, and was followed by The Big Book of Exit Strategies (2016).
Highlights
- Hum (2013): Beatrice Hawley Award
- The Big Book of Exit Strategies (2016)
- Writer-in-residence with InsideOut Literary Arts in Detroit schools
- Co-founder of Organic Weapon Arts