Poet-in-Residence Traci Evadne Currie Reflects on Poetry as Activism

Traci Evadne Currie, Ph.D., served as the inaugural Poetry as Activism Poet-in-Residence during the spring 2024 semester. Throughout the residency, Currie spent time in Special Collections engaging with materials related to the project’s theme for research, visiting classes across campus to speak about performance and poetry, offering workshops on spoken word, and spearheading the organization of the Poetry as Activism Festival. As the residency comes to a close, we asked Currie to reflect on the past semester and the mission of the Poetry as Activism Project.

How do you define “poetry as activism”?

Poetry as activism creates a functional platform [within the poetry genre] for inclusivity, especially for voices that aren’t readily heard for any number of reasons (i.e. race, gender, religion, disability, class, ethnicity, etc.). The “act”ivism (in part) focuses on being present with whoever chooses to show up and speak. It allows me to not only listen to a person’s story, but to also pay attention to the whole person – the way they move, dress, sense, perceive and understand the world. Poetry provides opportunities for people to fully express themselves.

Can you talk about the work of the residency? What are some of the activities that you’ve done over the course of the semester?

February, I started the residency for the African American Read-In. Then I began speaking to/workshopping in various UD courses regularly, as well as performing at various events like the Improv Concert in the UD Music Department. My state coordinator position for Delaware’s Poetry Out Loud (POL) [program] directly impacted the POL youth by giving them an opportunity to feature their original poetry work at UD events. I facilitated a Poetry as Activism workshop, I also co-organized a Poetry as Activism Festival, and I started the process of interviewing key leaders who have shaped the spoken word poetry environment in Delaware. I would say I’ve done a lot!

What does it mean for you to have participated in this residency at this moment in time?

In my first official residency month, I learned that the University issued guidelines in response to budget constraints and some of the financial support towards the projects we had discussed were no longer available. Also, over a course of months, there were walkouts and encampments across university campuses in the U.S. pertaining to the Israel-Hamas war. It’s also [an] election year and a number of key issues, like reproductive rights, violence against BIPOC, attacks on DEI and gun control, are core concerns.

What a time to be a poet and to be an observer and active participant in life! There is no shortage of topics to address. The arts allow me a space to both voice these concerns and create platforms for others to speak and create more problem-solving programs and venues. Here’s the thing though, even when funds are not available, we (the community) do it anyway because the call to gather and share overrides the fear of failure or giving up or saying, “we can’t” or “we are unable to.” My job is to find the people who are aligned with the idea that “we can” and “we will” and “we must.”

What have been some of the highlights and challenges of this experience?

The highlights include numerous events that were created. As well, it provided an opportunity to meet, connect and share space with a variety of people and disciplines. I’ve made new friends during this residency. I also enjoyed merging other forms of art (i.e. music and visual art) with poetry. The various collaborations have been magical. The challenges revolve around fleeting time. I blinked and realized the semester was over.

What are your next steps in regard to poetry and activism? How will your work continue?

My hope is to spend the next few months writing and completing some collaborative poetry/visual art projects and a chapter for the “Poetry as Activism” edited collection, which will be available on Manifold, a digital publishing platform, in early 2025. In addition, in the fall I will continue to share my residency experiences at the Furious Flower Conference in September 2024. Finally, I sit on committees that are organizing symposiums in the fall of 2024 that address the state of hip hop/poetry/art as a form of activism and healing.

The Poetry as Activism Project within the Library, Museums and Press draws on the archival collections of 20th-century American poets, with a focus on poets from historically marginalized groups, to engage with archival materials in new ways. Funded by the Mellon Foundation, the project examines the role that activism has played in poets’ lives and art over time while also exploring the notion of poetry as activism more generally.