In 2005, JMU established the nation’s first academic center devoted to the promotion, study and preservation of black poetry: the Furious Flower Poetry Center. Founded and directed by Joanne V. Gabbin, the center is dedicated to Pulitzer Prize winner Gwendolyn Brooks, who participated in the inaugural 1994 Furious Flower Poetry conference.
Two more conferences in 2004 and 2014 drew nationally known and respected poets such as Rita Dove, Nikki Giovanni, Sonia Sanchez, Eugene Redmond and Amiri Baraka.
Furious Flower has also broadened and deepened the study of black poetry through its work in digital archiving, poetry anthologies, seminars, creativity camps, an online literary journal and numerous events honoring poets of distinction.
JMU Provost and Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs Heather Coltman believes the expansive impact of the center comes from its focus on connecting people and places through the spoken and written word. “Whether through outreach, education or pure performance … its reach is global, and it has served to make our world smaller through the beauty and mystery of poetry,” she said.
The 25th anniversary of Furious Flower will be celebrated during two high-profile events in Washington, D.C., in September.
On Sept. 27, there will be a Benefit Gala at the Grand Hyatt Washington, where literary luminaries Elizabeth Alexander and Terrance Hayes will be joined by three U.S. poets laureate—Tracy K. Smith, Natasha Trethewey and Rita Dove—for a gala featuring dinner and poetry readings.
The following day, there will be a celebration at the National Museum of African American History and Culture in the Smithsonian Institution. This event will feature poetry readings by 25 renowned poets, an afternoon panel in the museum’s Oprah Winfrey Theater and interactive workshops on the practice of writing poetry.
