Furious Flower: A Celebration of the Greats of African American Poetry

With Good Reason

In 2019, the most notable poets of our time gathered in the nation’s capital to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the Furious Flower Poetry Center, devoted to African American poetry. Furious Flower founder, Joanne Gabbin and Lauren Alleyne join us in-studio to celebrate poets and hear excerpts from interviews with Toni Morrison, Maya Angelou, Rita Dove, Sonia Sanchez, and many others. Later in the show: Widely known for his poem called “Facing It” about the Vietnam War, Pulitzer Prize-winning poet Yusef Komunyakaa was a guest of honor at a week-long seminar at James Madison University’s Furious Flower Poetry Center. And: In her newest book, Sargent’s Women, Donna M. Lucey tells the fascinating stories behind four of the portraits by the famous painter John Singer Sargent, and ushers us into the scandalous and heartbreaking lives of Gilded Age high society.