Furious Flower Brings the Worlds of Black Poetry to JMU.

As the nation’s first academic center for Black poetry, Furious Flower has been living out JMU’s mission to be a national model for robust engagement with ideas and the world for over three decades.

Furious Flower’s mission is to celebrate the contributions of Black poets, educate audiences about these traditions, and preserve this rich legacy for future generations. Through Furious Flower’s programming, publications and archival curations, JMU students encounter the work of award-winning contemporary poets, which enriches their learning experience, and helps them develop into well-rounded, collaborative, and compassionate leaders.

Nearly 30 years ago, in 1994, I was a graduate student in English at James Madison University and attended the very first Furious Flower Poetry Conference entitled 'A Revolution in African American Poetry.' There, I heard readings from Gwendolyn Brooks, Nikki Giovanni, Rita Dove, and Sonia Sanchez and, more important, I learned from their words and their embodied wisdom: the beauty and the rage and the humanity and the hope in their voice! It was this conference, singularly, that inspired in me a desire to move forward in my education, to teach, and show, and learn, and to be a presence in the world that wants us to do better. To be better.

—Dr. Traci Zimmerman, Dean of the College of Arts and Letters

Your donation brings the worlds of Black poetry to JMU by supporting:

• The Furious Flower Reading Series: Three acclaimed Black poets visit campus each semester. Featured poets have included US Poets Laureate, MacArthur Fellows, Pulitzer Prize Winners, and National Book Award winners
• Four annual issues of our online literary journal, The Fight & The Fiddle
• The Furious Flower Broadside Collection: Monthly curated Poetry Broadside Exhibitions
• The Carmen R. Gillespie Fellowship, which offers JMU students mentorship and experience in literary arts administration with Furious Flower
• The historic, once-a-decade Furious Flower Poetry Conference
• Interdepartmental collaborations across campus, including the College of Visual and Performing Arts, Center for Multicultural Student Success, Office of Creative Propulsion, JMU Arboretum, and the College of Education, among others

Give to the Furious Flower Poetry Center.