Description:
2023 The Black Caucus of the American Library Association - Poetry Winner
2022 Heartland Bookseller Awards Finalist
A Peculiar People creates an entire microcosm within these poems. Steven Willis crafts a cast of characters, showcasing their struggles, identities, & underlying emotions. Willis champions the art of storytelling: weaving pop-culture and screenwriting elements to allow the reader to view this social commentary with a fresh lens. This collection examines the author's life experience; the pain of being Black and facing systemic racism.
Brief description: Chicago-based storyteller Steven Antoine Willis uses his background in fine arts to illustrate African American culture. With art influenced by urban life and religion, Steven mixes elements of hip hop, theatrical performance, ideas from anthropology and political theory to help express his eclectic narrative. Willis is a contributor to the Breakbeats Poets Anthology, NYU'S National Council for Teacher of English Journal, is a three-time individual world poetry slam finalist and former resident poet of Nuyorican Poets Cafe. Willis received his MFA in acting from the University of Iowa in 2021.