In this exciting and inspiring reading, we welcome one of the most important poetic voices of our time, Mahogany L. Browne, to share her highly anticipated collection, Chrome Valley. The work is at once a luminous hymn and a battle cry. Simultaneously spanning the course of her own life while embodying centuries of virulent history, this collection pays solemn tribute to the women who came before her. With her dynamic mastery of language, Mahogany is able to seamlessly move through effervescent yet cutting poems capturing the peculiar joys and pangs of Black girlhood, to rhythmic and haunting explorations of the inherent grief of motherhood. Transcendent and grounded, funny and furious, Chrome Valley is a declaration and celebration of black womanhood in all its brilliant facets.

Curator's Note: “I’ve been a fan of Mahogany L. Browne’s poetry for years, especially her young adult novels-in-verse, Vinyl Moon and Chlorine Sky. I’m looking forward to celebrating her return to City of Asylum. In her newest poetry collection, Chrome Valley, she explores grief, legacy, girlhood, womanhood, and what it’s like to be a Black woman in America.” —Kelsey Ford, Director of Programs at City of Asylum

The reading is followed by a moderated conversation, audience Q&A, and book signing. You can purchase your own copy of Chrome Valley at City of Asylum Bookstore.

Mahogany L. Browne (she/her) is a writer, organizer, vocalist, performance poet, educator, and author of poetry and fiction. In addition to Chrome Valley, her works include poetry collections I Remember Death By Its Proximity to What I Love, Kissing Caskets, and the NAACP-nominated chapbook Redbone, as well as several notable YA works. She has a MFA in Writing and Activism from Pratt Institute, where she founded the Women Writers of Color Reading Room and became the director of the Black Lives Matter program. Mahogany is one of the founders of the socially active literary collective #BlackPoetsSpeakOut (with Amanda Johnston, Jonterri Gadson, Jericho Brown, and Sherina Rodriguez Sharpe), created out of urgency and as a response to the non-indictment of Mike Brown’s murderer. She is also the Poetry Coordinator at St. Francis College’s MFA Program, founder of Woke Baby Book Fair, and the first-ever poet-in-residence at the Lincoln Center. Mahogany currently lives in Brooklyn, NY.

Bekezela Mguni is a queer Trinidadian artist, librarian, doula, and educator. She is a community organizer with over 15 years of experience in the Reproductive Justice movement and holds an MLIS from the University of Pittsburgh. She was a 2015-2016 member of the Penn Ave Creative Accelerator Program with the Kelly-Strayhorn Theater and launched the Black Unicorn Library and Archive Project, a Black feminist community library and archive. She also served as the 2016 Sophia Smith Archive Activist-in-Residence at Smith College. Bekezela was selected as an Emerging Artist in the 2016 Three Rivers Arts Festival and won the Juror's Choice award for her visual artwork. She was a featured artist of the 2017 Activist Print Project, a partnership between Artist Image Resource, BOOM concepts, and the Andy Warhol Museum. Bekezela also serves as the Education Program Director at Dreams of Hope which affirms the voices and leadership of LGBTQ youth through the arts.

Honoring Black Womanhood with Mahogany L. Browne