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Tayari's Blog: Amaud Jamaul Johnson Wins the Dorsett Prize

Posted by TayariJones on July 18, 2006 06:14 AM
Filed under Bookshelf

Amaud Johnson, coolest brother ever, has won the Dorsett Prize in poetry for his new collection, Red Summer. He is the first winner of this prize, which comes with a $10,000 prize. I am telling you here that he is my friend-- not in the interest of "disclosure," but because I am just so incredibly proud of him.

Red Summer is a collection of poetry exploring the race riots of 1919. It's got the magic poetry mojo to meld pain and beauty. Read this gorgeous and searing offering:

"Burlesque"

Watch the fire undress him,
how flame fingers each button,
rolls back his collar, unzips him
without sweet talk or mystery.

See how the skin begins to gather
at his ankles, how it slips into
the embers, how it shimmers
beneath him, unshapen, iridescent,

as candlelight on a dark negligee.
Come, look at him, at all his goods,
how his whole body becomes song,
an aria of light, a psalm's kaleidoscope.

Listen as he lets loose an opus,
night's national anthem, the tune
you can't name, but can't stop humming.
There, he burns brilliant as a blue note.

--Amaud Johnson

(I am sure many of you are familiar with the DC Anthem "Read a Book." Here's my update: "BUY a book. This one.")

July 18, 2006 02:39 PM