We’re happy to announce our President, Nora Brooks Blakely, is offering a limited number of in-depth presentations and workshops centered on the life, work, and continuing legacy of her mother, Gwendolyn Brooks.

#GwendolynBrooks
#Blackpoetry
#blackliterature
#womenpoets
#americanpoetry

Thank you ALL for another great gathering at AWP! We love being with you in person and in love for Black literature & arts ❤️

#ObsidianatAWP #AWP26 #AWP2026 #AWPBookfair #ObsidianCommunity #ObsidianContributors #BlackLit #BlackArt #BlackPoetry #LitMag

There's still time to stop by the Obsidian table (211) in the AWP26 bookfair! 🎉

#ObsidianatAWP #AWP26 #AWP2026 #AWPBookfair #ObsidianCommunity #ObsidianContributors #BlackLit #BlackArt #BlackPoetry #LitMag

Latorial Faison at Obsidian table 211 in the AWP26 bookfair signing her books! 🔥

#ObsidianatAWP #AWP26 #AWP2026 #AWPBookfair #ObsidianCommunity #ObsidianContributors #BlackLit #BlackArt #BlackPoetry #LitMag

Don't miss Latorial Faison at Obsidian Table 211 in the AWP26 Bookfair in Baltimore today from 11:30am to 12:30pm ET for a book signing!

#ObsidianatAWP #AWP26 #AWP2026 #AWPBookfair #ObsidianCommunity #ObsidianContributors #BlackLit #BlackArt #BlackPoetry #LitMag

Did you catch Jerry T. Johnson at Obsidian table 211 in the AWP26 bookfair signing his book Bad Fruit?

Don't miss our final author signing on Saturday!

#ObsidianatAWP #AWP26 #AWP2026 #AWPBookfair #ObsidianCommunity #ObsidianContributors #BlackLit #BlackArt #BlackPoetry #LitMag

Stop by to see Jerry T. Johnson at Obsidian Table 211 in the AWP26 Bookfair in Baltimore today from 2 to 3pm ET!

#ObsidianatAWP #AWP26 #AWP2026 #AWPBookfair #ObsidianCommunity #ObsidianContributors #BlackLit #BlackArt #BlackPoetry #LitMag

A chance to win a $50 gift certificate to Bookshop.org! Stop by table 211 in the AWP26 bookfair (Baltimore) to enter the Obsidian raffle. Sponsored by our friends at Bookshop.org.

#ObsidianatAWP #AWP26 #AWP2026 #AWPBookfair #ObsidianCommunity #ObsidianContributors #BlackLit #BlackArt #BlackPoetry

Obsidian is at table 211 in the AWP bookfair in Baltimore. Stop by to check out our new limited edition t-shirt hot off the press 🔥

#ObsidianatAWP #AWP26 #AWP2026 #AWPBookfair #ObsidianCommunity #ObsidianContributors #BlackLit #BlackArt #BlackPoetry #LitMag

M. Nzadi Keita and Duriel E. Harris, AWP26 in Baltimore

Stop by table 211 in the bookfair for more!

#ObsidianatAWP #AWP26 #AWP2026 #AWPBookfair #ObsidianCommunity #ObsidianContributors #BlackLit #BlackArt #BlackPoetry #LitMag

🌟 Author Signings at the Obsidian table at AWP26 in Baltimore!

Stop by Table 211 in the AWP Bookfair to connect with M. Nzadi Keita, Jerry T. Johnson & Latorial Faison.

#ObsidianatAWP #AWP26 #AWP2026 #AWPBookfair #ObsidianCommunity #ObsidianContributors #BlackLit #BlackArt #BlackPoetry #LitMag

#ObsidianatAWP #AWP26 #AWP2026 #AWPBookfair #ObsidianCommunity #ObsidianEditors #ObsidianContributors #BlackLit #BlackArt #BlackPoetry #LitMag

Last BHM Lair Poetry Corner!
And Still I Rise by Dr. Maya Angelou
#booksky #blacksky #poetry #blackpoetry #drmayaangelou #andstillirise #blerd #staynerdy

Winter Poem Placing poetry at the crossroads of American life since 1910.

For today's #BlackHistoryMonth look at the works of #blackpoets, I thought I'd go a bit more modern and different. I don't usually go for modern poetry, but I like this one by Nikki Giovanni: "Winter Poem".
poetrysociety.org/poems/winter...
#blackpoetry #poem #poetry

Georgia Dusk O singers, resinous and soft your songs Above the sacred whisper of the pines, Give virgin lips to cornfield concubines, Bring dreams of Christ to dusky…

For today's #BlackHistoryMonth look at the works of black poets, I'm looking at "Georgia Dusk" by Jean Toomer.
www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/46407/...
Men signing folk songs as they return home from work. The way Toomer describes the scene, I can visualize it.
#blackpoets #blackpoetry #poem

A Hymn to the Evening Soon as the sun forsook the eastern main The pealing thunder shook the heav'nly plain; Majestic grandeur!

For today's #BlackHistoryMonth look at the works of black poets, I'm looking at another poem by Phillis Wheatley Peters. This time, it's the lovely piece "A Hymn to the Evening".
www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/143633...
#blackpoets #blackpoetry #poet #poetry #poem

No Images She does not know her beauty, she thinks her brown body has no glory. If she could dance naked under palm trees and see her image in the river, she would…

Yesterday, I missed posting my #BlackHistoryMonth look at the works of black poets (was busy drawing), so I'll post two today.
First up, "No Images" by William Waring Cuney.
www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/53011/...
"She does not know
her beauty..."
Makes you think.
#blackpoets #blackpoetry

The Snow Fairy II And suddenly my thoughts then turned to you Who came to me upon a winter’s night, When snow-sprites round my attic window flew, Your hair disheveled,…

For today's Black History Month look at the works of black poets, I'm looking at the lovely poem "The Snow Fairy" by Claude McKay.
www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/53213/...
There's some beautiful imagery in this one.
#poem #poetry #BlackHistoryMonth #blackpoets #blackpoetry

Old Lem “They got the judges They got the lawyers They got the jury-rolls They got the law They don’t come by ones They got the sheriffs They got the deputies…

For today's Black History Month look at the works of black poets, I'm looking at "Old Lem" by Sterling A. Brown:
www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/53003/...
This piece gives one a clear sense of the unfairness of being a black sharecropper during the Jim Crow Era.
#blackpoets #blackpoetry

Night of Love But this is Nature’s law, love, Though just it may not seem, That men should wake to sing, love; While maidens sleep and dream.

For today's Black History Month look at the works of black poets, I'm looking at "Night of Love" by Paul Laurence Dunbar.
www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/50266/...
OK, I know, Valentine's Day was yesterday, but still close enough!
#blackpoets #blackpoetry #blackhistorymonth

The Love Tree Come, let us plant our love as farmers plant A seed, and you shall water it with tears, And I shall weed it with my hands until They bleed. Perchance this…

Since it's Valentine's Day, today for my month-long look at the works of black poets, I thought I'd look at a "love" poem (of a sorts), albeit a bittersweet one — "The Love Tree" by Countee Cullen.
www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/162652...
#blackpoets #blackpoetry #blackhistorymonth #poem #poetry

Link in bio for this month's newsletter from Obsidian, with a letter from Editor Duriel E. Harris.

#Obsidian #ObsidianNewsletter #LetterFromEditor #Obsidian2026 #Over50Years #BlackLit #BlackPoetry #BlackArt #ObsidianCommunity #ObsidianContributors #ObsidianEditors #LitMag

Length of Moon by Arna Bontemps Then the golden hour Will tick its last And the flame will go down in the flower.A briefer length of moon Will mark the... Poem summary, analysis, and meaning

For today's Black History Month look at the works of black poets, I'm looking at "Length of the Moon" by the Harlem Renaissance poet Arna Bontemps.
www.poetrysoup.com/famous/poem/...
Nice imagery in this one!
#poem #poetry #blackhistorymonth #blackpoets #blackpoetry

Next Week—An Obsidian Town Hall! Panelists will discuss encounters with visual & sculptural art in writing practice, as part of our Ekphrasis Series. Join us Feb19! Details: obsidianlit.org/obsidian-tow...

#ObsidianTownHall #OnPraxis #Ekphrasis #BlackLit #BlackPoetry #BlackArt #ObsidianCommunity

Obsidian Call for Submissions 📣

Submit to Obsidian's themed issue 52.2, Bond of a Nation: Ekphrasis & the Promise of America, edited by Duriel E. Harris & D. Lenaé Littlefield. Deadline: April 1, 2026

Details: buff.ly/mRFlJXW

#Obsidian #Ekphrasis #Obsidian52.2 #BlackLit #BlackPoetry #BlackArt

Like Brothers We Meet The soldier no longer shall roam, But soon shall land safely ashore, Each soon will arrive at his own native home, And struggle in warfare no more.

Today in my look at the works of black poets for Black History Month, I'm taking a look at "Like Brothers We Meet" by George Moses Horton.
www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/55903/...
Such hope! Alas, the Civil War never seems to have ended. The strife just took on other forms.
#blackpoets #blackpoetry

Caged Bird The caged bird sings with a fearful trill of things unknown but longed for still and his tune is heard on the distant hill for the caged bird sings of…

Continuing with my look at the works of black poets for Black History Month...
Today's poem by a black poet is a famous work by a famous black poet — "Caged Bird" by Maya Angelou.
www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/48989/...
Lovely piece!
#poem #poetry #blackpoets #blackpoetry #mayaangelou #cagedbird

The Song of the Smoke I am wreathing broken hearts, I am sheathing love’s light darts; Inspiration of iron times Wedding the toil of toiling climes, Shedding the blood of…

In honor of Black History Month, here's the link to another poem by a black poet, this time, "The Song of the Smoke" by Civil Rights leader and intellectual W. E. B. Du Bois.
www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/43025/...
#poets #blackpoets #poetry #blackpoetry #poem #blackhistorymonth

America Bleeds by Angelo Lewis it does, it does, i have seen it bleeding, brothers & sisters, i have seen it, i have seen it, come rushing, walk crippled fall flatly on tears of sad streets where creatures fall onward with cold eyes over them, armies on streets over them, police on pavements over them, tear gas in faces over them, fires & minds, living dreams living, all of them innocents, yes, yes, i have seen it, it bleeds, it bleeds, i have seen it bleed, spill blood at my brothers, cough no at our dignity, i tell you, i tell you, we must, kick on this monster, till it dies, till it dies, dies, dies, dies, dies, lies in the dirt with its blood & its sickness, head fall rolling in gutter, red, white, & blue, flow freely, flow freely, move over, fall down, down, down, be finished at last

I came across this visceral poem when I was a child, and it opened my eyes.

Still it speaks to this moment, to this suffering, to this scream for liberation.

All of them innocents, yes.

"America Bleeds" by Angelo Lewis, 1973

#poetry #Blackpoetry #ACAB

Happy New Year! Celebrating over 50 years of publishing with you! 🎉 🥳

#Obsidian #Obsidian2026 #Over50Years #BlackLit #BlackPoetry #BlackArt #ObsidianCommunity #ObsidianContributors #ObsidianEditors #LitMag #ThankYou