This spring, 2Leaf Press celebrates National Poetry Month by publishing two established and two emerging poets we’ve admired for quite some time: Shirley Bradley LeFlore, Tony Medina, and (not4)Prophet.
In some way, each poet raises the stakes of a poetics that invokes the bardic tradition as aesthetic activism, providing food for thought and wisdom for the soul. This was not a conscious effort on our part. However, considering the times we live in, we found ourselves drawn to these poets because they challenge the moral and ethical implications of engagement by courageously illuminating the relationship between the real and the world of art.
The doorstopper for spring is Brassbones & Rainbows, The Collected Poems of Shirley Bradley LeFlore, a legendary poet who shares stories of womanhood, kin folk and African American culture with poetic lines that sing off the page.
Next comes the poetry collection Broke Baroque, part of an ongoing series by one of our foremost contemporary poets, Tony Medina. Broke is Medina’s Everyman character who bears witness to his plight of homelessness in a humorous yet profound way that is sure to connect with fiction and poetry lovers alike.
With wrenching immediacy, emerging poet (not4)Prophet’s debut collection, Last of The Po’ Ricans y Otros Afro-artifacts, provides an incredible verbal and musical profusion of poetry that reflects the emotional landscapes of the perpetual islands of Puerto Rico and New York.
2Leaf Press congratulates poets LeFlore, Medina, (not4)prophet and Imarisha for their courageous works and thanks them for “hitching their wagon” to a fledgling new press. While these four poetry collections ought to keep readers busy for a while, there’s plenty more coming in the months ahead. Buy books and keep coming back for more. Why? Because we are 2LP, a small press with phat ideas!
