Kai Black
Kai Black (they/them) fell in love with poetry in their first semester in our program. They will be graduating with a book of poetry next year. Kai just published two poems, “Lake Peace” and “Fleeting Beauty,” in Bristlecone Firesides. Congratulations, Kai!
You can read a news post about their poetry here. And below you can read their bio:
Kai is a Black Queer Nonbinary MFA Creative Writing Student at MIU, in Fairfield, IA, where they study Poetry and Speculative Fiction. They are also a blogger for their personal blog “The Lazy Hoe” and a social commentator on all things sex, entertainment, social issues, and anything that affects their identity and navigation in this world. You can follow them on Twitter @TheLazyHoeKai or IG @TheLazyHoe. This is their debut publication.
More publication news from Kai:
From fobmoves on Instagram
This is Kai’s Outreach event developed in our program:
“I had so much fun I enjoyed the topics and the workshop as well as the environment as a whole it was great”
An Interview with Kai in Poetic Stories:
Meet: Kai Black
Kai was interviewed in Poetic Stories. You can read the interview online here.
Can you tell us how you got started in poetry or writing?
I got my start in writing at a young age. I’ve always had an overactive imagination, so making up stories was always me just keeping myself entertained and disassociated from the world around me. I don’t think I grew up knowing I wanted to be a writer until I found myself smoking a blunt and writing for fun. I didn’t start writing poetry until midway through my first semester of graduate school. In fact, I prided myself in having disdain for the art since I was a child. Life is ironic.
Can you please share some history or info about yourself
You know, I’m just a regula-schmegula Black Queer Non Binary person trying to make it just like the next person. I’ve worked in live events, television production and now I’m a second year Creative Writing graduate student in a small town in Iowa. I’m also arecovering addict. That was a mouthful to say but then again, most things I speak on are a mouthful. During the pandemic, I lost my grandmother to cancer and life was hitting me fast that I was spiraling and couldn’t seem to find direction, so naturally in fight or flight response, I chose to go back to school and this was only after living a very dangerous and drug fueled sex craved life. I was filled with so many emotions that were hard to sort through, mainly negative and I couldn’t express myself through fiction like poetry allowed me. I went from writing emo-bitch poems to finding my voice as a poet and what I want my art to say, that I’m an unapologetic black queer who could give a shit less about respectability. I believe that if I can get just one person to feel moved enough to say “same” or “oof” then I’ve accomplished what art is supposed to do, connect and move people, no matter the subject matter. Other than that, I usually spend most of my days playing Pokémon, smoking weed, jotting down poems on “Notes” and binge watching an unhealthy amount of Hulu while still managing not to fail school. Go figure. You can have it all.
What projects are you currently working on?
Currently I have two projects. I have one completed speculative fiction manuscript that I’m currently editing and book of poetry I’m constructing for my graduation project out of my MFA program. If you follow my social media, I can assure you I will be obnoxious enough to remind you what they are called and if they are being published. I also host open mic for poetry every first Thursday and I’m hosting a free creative writing workshop on June 9th called Cyber Sex: Hoe-Tale Confessionals. I also was recently approached by a publication by a publication in Australia to become a resident writer after their creative director read my old blog. They highlight black and brown queer voices on their side of the pond and I just think it’s such a dope honor to be invited into a cultural exchange if you will. Follow them on IG @fobmoves
To read more, and to read another poem by Kai on Poetic Stories, continue reading here.
