Kemi Alabi is the author of "Against Heaven" (Graywolf Press, 2022), selected by Claudia Rankine as winner of the Academy of American Poets First Book Award, and coeditor of The Echoing Ida Collection (Feminist Press, 2021). Their work appears in The Atlantic, The Nation, Poetry, Boston Review, The BreakBeat Poets Vol. 2, and elsewhere. Alabi is a MacDowell, Pink Door, Tin House, and Sewanee Writers’ Conference Fellow who creates cultural strategy projects with organizers and movement-builders. Born in Wisconsin on a Sunday in July, they now live in Chicago, IL.

Omotara James is the author of the poetry collection, “Song of My Softening,” forthcoming from Alice James Books, and the chapbook, “Daughter Tongue,” selected by African Poetry Book Fund, in collaboration with Akashic Books, for the 2018 New Generation African Poets Box Set.

James’ poems have been featured in The Poetry Foundation, The Paris Review online, The Academy of American Poets Poem-A-Day series, The Believer, Literary Hub, and elsewhere. Her work has been supported by New York Foundation for the Arts, The Bread Loaf Writers Conference, City Artist Corps Grants, Café Royale Cultural Foundation, The Palm Beach Poetry Festival. She’s the recipient of a 92Y/ Discovery Poetry Award; a Nancy P. Schnader Academy of American Poets Prize and was a finalist for the  Brunel International African Poetry Prize in 2019. She is a fellow of the Cave Canem Foundation and Lambda Literary.

Kemi Alabi on Against Heaven with Omotara James on Song of My Softening