Makalani Bandele will be releasing Hellfightin', his collection of poetry from Willow books at the Frankfort Avenue Carmichael's Bookstore on Thursday, October 27 at 7 p.m. The event is presented by Carmichael's bookstore and Spalding's BFA program and will also be featuring jazz music and New York poetic activist Kristin Prevallet. There is no fee to attend the event.
Makalani began writing during his freshman year of college, has been a member of the Affrilachian Poets since 2008, and is also a fellow of the Cave Canem Foundation. Affrilachian is a term that was coined by Frank X. Walker to relate to the great cultural diversity of the region known as Appalachia. This region includes the mountainous areas that extend from New York to Mississippi, Alabama, and Georgia. The Affrilachian poets are a multi-ethnic, multi-cultural ensemble of writers challenging simple notions of an all white Appalachian region and culture.
"My work is deeply rooted in the twin African American traditions of orality and music," said Bandele. "I am preoccupied with the tradition of storytelling, the linguistic inventiveness and musicality in the way African Americans speak."
Bandele's favorite excerpt from Hellfightin':
Bandele said that Kristin Prevallet is bringing a creative and activist energy. Prevallet is the Fall Writer-in-Residence at the Spalding BFA Program, and she is the author of four books of cross-genre poetry, including her most recent multi-form elegy I, Afterlife: Essay in Mourning Time (Essay Press, 2007). She will also be reading and speaking at Occupy Louisville on Thursday during the day.
Bandele looks forward to future plans of doing artist workships and readings of Hellfightin' around the country. More information can be found at his web site.
