ABOUT ETHERIDGE KNIGHT

Etheridge Knight (b. Corinth, MS, April 19, 1931 – d. Indianapolis IN, March 10, 1991) was an important poet of the Black Arts Movement as well as a key figure in Indianapolis’ poetry community, particularly towards the end of his life. Knight and other American artists sought to create politically engaged work that explored the African-American cultural and historical experience, seeking to inspire collective action and develop Black cultural identities distinct from dominant white power structures. Knight’s first volume of poetry, Poems from Prison (1968), recalls in verse his eight-year-long sentence after his arrest for robbery in 1960. His 1973 volume Belly Song and Other Poems dealt with themes of racism and love, and earned him nominations for a Pulitzer prize and a National Book Award. Additional honors and awards included fellowships and prizes from the Guggenheim Foundation, the National Endowment for the Arts, and the Poetry Society of America. Locally, he formed the Peoples’ Poetry Workshop and gathered his group at various locations up and down Massachusetts Avenue. In 1990 he earned a bachelor’s degree in American poetry and criminal justice from Martin Center University (now Martin University) in Indianapolis. Knight passed away from cancer in 1991.

Knight’s poetry uses Black vernacular and includes a haiku among its forms. He was, as he often said, a poet of the belly: a poet of the earth and of the body, a poet of the feelings from which cries and blood oaths and arias come. Please join us in joyful celebration of his legacy and what would have been his 94th birthday.

SPEAKERS

• Corey Ewing is a native of Indianapolis, IN but pursued a love of poetry across the country on a whim. He returned home to support various poetic projects including Word As Bond, Fighting Words Poetry, Cafe Creative and currently curates VOCAB. He is a former Artist At Work participant with Kheprw Institute and continues to teach, coach, and create as an multi-disciplinary artist focusing on poetry and photography.
• Januarie York is a freelance writer, published author & poet and creative curator. She resides in Indianapolis, IN, where she was named the Center for Black Literature and Culture’s first Poet Laureate. In addition to curating poetry shows, she has created several community healing events and developed a poetry activity book based on increasing Black well-being. She also works with the 46208-based organization “The Learning Tree” as the “Cultivator of Joy.” Her work has been displayed in several downtown areas and she recently wrote and recorded the opening poem for the nationally recognized Major Taylor exhibit at the Indiana State Museum. You can find more about her workshops, performances, and upcoming events at januarieyork.net.
• Indianapolis native Manón Voice, has become a trusted voice in the the arts and activism community. Manón expresses her passions through her work as a Poet, Hip-Hop Emcee, Speaker, Educator, and advocate for Social Justice. Manón Voice strives to amplify the richness of the human narrative through workshops, public speaking, performance, poetry commissions, collaborations, and more!
• Ashley Mack-Jackson is a native Hoosier, educator, and writer. In 2013, Ashley co-founded Word As Bond, Inc. (Word), an organization that provides free creative writing education to youth across central Indiana, and in 2018 she was awarded a grant from The Poetry Foundation to support her work with Word’s young writers. As an extension of her commitment to promoting and celebrating the literary arts in Indiana, she serves as an editorial assistant for The Indianapolis Review and has facilitated workshops for organizations like the Indiana Writers Center and the Heartland Society of Women Writers. In 2023, Ashley’s poem, “The Architecture of Eternity,” which celebrates Etheridge Knight’s legacy, was selected by the Indy Arts Council and Indiana Humanities to appear alongside a mural of Knight for the Bicentennial Legends series. Her writing has appeared in Obsidian: Literature & Arts in the African Diaspora, The Indianapolis Anthology, Callaloo: A Journal of African Diaspora Arts and Letters, and elsewhere. She is a lecturer in the College of Education at Butler University.
• Mat Davis is a poet, performing artist, and organizer who has been active in the Indy arts community for 2 decades. Mat is particularly known for hosting all-age performing events in the Near Eastside, Fountain Square, and Downtown. He is the founder and emcee of “Sometimes Y”, a monthly poetry open mic at the Chatterbox Jazz Club and inspired by Etheridge Knight’s Free Peoples’ Poetry Workshops. Mat Davis is also the leader of the Scene Support campaign for working artists, and the host of the occasional podcast series “Finding Etheridge”.