Return to Top of Page
African Poetry Book Fund
Menu
  • Close
  • Contests
  • Books
  • Authors
  • Artists
  • Libraries
  • Portal
  • Blog
  • Publish with APBF
  • About APBF
  • Support Our Mission
  • African Poetry Digital Portal

Interview With Sillerman Prize Winner Safia Elhillo

APBF Staff February 25, 2016

The Stripes has published an interview with 2016 Sillerman Prize winner Safia Elhillo in which she discusses “Writing While Black.” In the interview, Elhillo describes her positive experience at Cave Canem and explains why she thinks this moment is unique for black writers. Elhillo also discusses the ways in which assumptions about an author based on race can have adverse effects on a career, including in the workshop:

“It was like no one wanted to critique my work because they were afraid they might sound racist. The feedback would often be something like: ‘Oh, this is such a beautiful depiction of your culture.’ Meanwhile, the poem would not be about my culture.  But I wanted to know – do my metaphors suck? Are these line breaks correct? My work was being treated anthropologically instead of as a piece of work to be crafted.”

The entire interview can be read here.

Elhillo was also recently profiled at Brittle Paper.

News

Recent Posts
  • Call for Proposals: African Poetry Digital Humanities Grants May 15, 2023
  • Inaugural Evaristo Prize for African Poetry Short-List Announcement April 20, 2023
  • Luschei Prize for African Poetry awarded to Togara Muzanenhamo February 23, 2023
  • APBF awarded Capacity-Building Grant by the Academy of American Poets February 14, 2023
  • Researchathon Event October 31, 2022
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Email
  • RSS

© 2023 African Poetry Book Fund | All rights reserved.
110 Andrews Hall, University of Nebraska–Lincoln, Lincoln, NE 68588-0334
Site Credits