Description: In The Given Circumstances, Steven Willis meshes his poetry and theater backgrounds to make a book that can stand as a hybrid work; each poem is a poetic snapshot and a theatrical scene. Willis puts an emphasis on action; each speaker is attempting to persuade, to comfort, and to seduce with their ability and decision to do so being highly shaped by their identity, their history, and the circumstances they inherited.
Brief description: Steven Antoine Willis is a performance poet and educator from Chicago, IL, whose work centers identity and one's personal ways of knowing. With work that explores African American culture and collective memory, Willis blends the rigor of literary craft and the urgency of theatrical intention, drawing influences from hip hop, theatrical training, social pedagogy, and religion to build both his characters and his worlds.