I am very pleased to announce that poet, essayist, fiction writer, editor, teacher, and co-founder of Cave Canem, Toi Derricotte is our IBPC judge for the 2011-12 Poem of the Year. She will read in July-August. At this point, I should list her awards and honors, but they are so many, here is her link to them:
Toi Derricotte: Awards. She is a poet who has emerged from the underground, went back under, and has come out on top. People label her feminist, single mom, and Afro-American, that she comes from abuse, and those are not wrong, but she is more than these flash points for those who love her and her work. She is a great leader for the movements because of the way she transcends them with her remarkable humanness. At the end of the day, just as throughout it, she's Toi Derricotte. She's a unique and remarkable poet. And now we of the InterBoard Poetry Community can be so honored to have her as part of our community.
Below are links that are organized so that you can find what you are looking for. Think of them as a resource. But if you can go through them and read them all, good for you. I recommend it.
Web Sites:Toi DerricotteCave Canem: (Say Cah-vee Cah-nem: means "Beware of Dog")
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Bio & Memoir:Biography: in Toi Derricotte
The black notebooks: an interior journeyBlack Poetic Feminism: The Imagination of Toi DerricotteDerricotte, Toi (Toi Webster): (1941- ) poet, memoirist, educator: in African-American writers
Life and Work: in Penn State: Africana Research Center
on Toi Derricotte: in Women poets on mentorship: efforts and affections
Toi Derricotte: in African American writers: portraits and visions
Toi Derricotte: in University of Pittsburgh: Faculty
Toi Derricotte: in Wikipedia
Toi(nette) Marie Derricotte (1941- ): in Encyclopedia of African American women writers, Volume 1
Unburying the Bird: An Introduction to Toi Derricotte: in Persimmon Tree
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Essays:At an Artists Colony: in Daily fare: essays from the multicultural experience
Beds: in The Best American Essays 2011
The Bond of Living Things: Poems of Ancestry: in Poets.org
Life in Black and White: in On the Issues
On "Southern Road" by Sterling Brown: in First Loves: Poets Introduce the Essential Poems That Captivated and Inspired Them
Writing Natural Birth: in The grand permission: new writings on poetics and motherhood
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Interviews:Acclaimed poet Toi Derricotte closes the book on her harrowing childhood with The Undertaker's Daughter: in Pittsburgh City Paper
Poet Toi Derricotte: in Black and White
"We Are Not Post-racial": in Sampsonia Way
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Fiction:Dildo: in Erotique noire
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As Editor:Gathering around: a reader celebrating Cave Canem's first decade~
Printed Poems:1994 Inventory: in Spirit & flame: an anthology of contemporary African American poetry
After a Reading at a Black College: the fifth poem in Persimmon Tree: Eleven Poems by Toi Derricotte
Allen Ginsberg: in The Giant Book of Poetry
Before Making Love: the first of four poems in The Drunken Boat: Toi Derricotte
Black Boys Play the Classics: in Poetry Out Loud
Blackbottom: the first poem in Carol Peters: Toi Derricotte
Bookstore: in The extraordinary tide: new poetry by American women
Boy at the Paterson Falls: the tenth poem in Persimmon Tree: Eleven Poems by Toi Derricotte
Brother: in AfroPoets Famous Writers
II. The Chicago Streetcar Fire, excerpt from Fires of Childhood: the first poem in Carol Peters: Toi Derricotte
Christmas Eve: My Mother Dressing: in Poetry Foundation
Clitoris: in Poets of the New Century
The Damned: in Home girls: a Black feminist anthology
Family Secrets: in Spirit & flame: an anthology of contemporary African American poetry
Fears of the Eighth Grade: in Learning by heart: contemporary American poetry about school
The Feeding: in Carol Peters: Toi Derricotte
For a Godchild, Regina, on the Occasion of Her First Love: in Home girls: a Black feminist anthology
For Black Women Who Are Afraid: in AfroPoets Famous Writers
For My First Grade Teacher and Her Special Messenger: in Best of Prairie schooner: fiction and poetry
From a Letter: About Snow: in Toi Derricotte
Grace Paley Reading: the second of four poems in The Drunken Boat: Toi Derricotte
Hester's Song: in Home girls: a Black feminist anthology
The House on Norwood: in Memory of kin: stories about family by black writers
Invisible Dreams: in Poetry Foundation
Market: in AfroPoets Famous Writers
The Minks: in Poetry Out Loud
My dad & sardines: in Poetry Daily
My light without my father's darkness: the third of four poems in The Drunken Boat: Toi Derricotte
Not Forgotten: in AfroPoets Famous Writers
A Note on My Son's Face: in Poetry Foundation
On a Picture of the Buddhist Monk Pema Chodron: in AfroPoets Famous Writers
On Stopping Late in the Afternoon for Steamed Dumplings: the seventh poem in Persimmon Tree: Eleven Poems by Toi Derricotte
On the Turning Up of Unidentified Black Female Corpses: in African American women speak out on Anita Hill-Clarence Thomas
Passing: in Poetry Out Loud
Rome: in Rattle
Squeaky Bed: the eighth poem in Persimmon Tree: Eleven Poems by Toi Derricotte
St. Peter Claver: in Poetry Foundation
The Weakness: in AfroPoets Famous Writers
Workshop on Racism: in AfroPoets Famous Writers
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Video:Emory MARBL: In Conversation: Kevin Young with Toi Derricotte and Cornelius EadyThe Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation: Dodge Blog: Poetry Fridays: Toi DerricotteGoogle Video Search (~400 results)Online Video Guide: Watch Toi Derricotte VideosPoetry Foundation: Video: BlackbottomYouTube: Cave Canem Poetry~
Audio:Lannan Podcasts: Cave Canum Evening, 15 November 2006 -- AudioThe Writer's Almanac: Christmas Eve: My Mother Dressing by Toi Derricotte~
Books:Shopping pages:
Toi Derricotte: OrderAmazon: Toi DerricotteBarnes & Noble: Toi DerricottePowell's: Toi DerricotteIndividual books:
The Black Notebooks: An Interior Journey: at W.W. Norton & Company, Inc.
Captivity: at University of Pittsburgh Press
Empress of the Death House: at Amazon (Lotus Press, out of print)
Gathering Ground: A Reader Celebrating Cave Canem's First Decade: at The University of Michigan Press
Natural Birth at Firebrand Books
Tender: at University of Pittsburgh Press
The Undertaker's Daughter: at University of Pittsburgh Press
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