Rickey Laurentiis
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Education
Washington University in St Louis
MFA in Writing, 2014
Sarah Lawrence College
BA in Liberal Arts, 2011
Books
Boy with Thorn (Full Length: University of Pittsburgh, 2015)
Prime (Chapbook: Little Rock: Sibling Rivalry Press, 2014)
Whipped (Chappbook: Floating Wolf Quarterly, 2013)
Teaching in the University
University of Pittsburgh
- "Crisis & Controversy in Contemporary American Poetry," Graduate Writing Department, Spring 2020
- "Sustaining Revision: A Readings Course," Undergraduate Writing Department, Spring 2020
- “Poetry & the Body Workshop" Graduate Writing Department, Spring 2019
Sarah Lawrence College
- “The Body: A Poetry Seminar and Workshop," Undergraduate Writing Department, Spring 2017
Columbia University
- “Sustained (Re)vision: Carl Phillips, Jorie Graham and Frank Bidart,” Graduate Writing Department, Fall 2016
- “Advanced Poetry Workshop," Undergraduate Writing Department, Fall 2015
Washington University in St Louis
- “Poetry Writing 1” Fall & Spring 2012-13, Undergraduate English Comp. Department
Teaching in the Community
The Shipman Agency's: The Work Room
- “Crisis & Pleasure: A Care Seminar,” July 2020
Juniper Summer Writing Institute
- “Sense, the Sentence, and Syntax: Poetry Workshop,” June 2018
- “(Re)seeing (Re)vision with Rickey Laurewntiis,” June 2018
Carnegie Museum of Art
- “From Body to Flesh: Intersections of Photography, Poetry & Dance with the Center for African American Poetry and Poetics” May 2018
92nd Street Y
- “Advanced Poetry with Rickey Laurentiis: Sense & Syntax,” Summer Literary Programs, July 2017
Breadloaf Writers’ Conference
- “Queering Form, Queering Poetics,” August 2016
Indiana University Writers Conference
- “Body as Form as Body: Poetry Seminar,” June 2017
The Cooper Union
- Writing Instructor for Painting, Drawing and Architecture Studios, Saturday Program for High School Youth, Fall 2015
Harlem Children’s Zone
- Writing Corps Curriculum Coordinator and Teaching Specialist, Fall 2013-Fall 2014
Selected Panels, Presentations & Lectures
Center for African American Poetry & Poetics
- “The Black Ecstatic: An Evening of Poetry & Film,” October 2018 (as curator)
The Warhol Museum
- “The Artist up Close: Devan Shimoyama,” March 2019
Carnegie Museum of Art
- “Black Representation in Deana Lawson’s Photography” Forum Gallery, May 2018
Pratt College
- “Notes Toward a Lecture on the Body: A Provocation II,” Black Lives Matter Conference, ““Queering Radical Pedagogies,” March 2018
Naropa University, Jack Kerouac School of Disembodied Poetics
- “Notes Toward a Lecture on the Body: A Provocation I,” Embodied Poetics Conference, March 2018
Museum of Modern Art
- “An Evening with Shikeith Cathey and Rickey Laurentiis,” Black Intimacy Film & Lecture Series, October 2017
Poets House
- “Necessary Cuts, or Rediscovering Genius in the Mississippi Delta,” Emerging Poets Fellowship Public Lecture Series, April 2017
Sarah Lawrence College
- “Scratching Through the Dark: Thinking Through Race in Poetry and Art,” Graduate MFA Lecture Series, May 2016
Dodge Poetry Festival
- “Poetry and Pride,” October 2016
- “Poets for Teachers,” October 2016
Association for Writers and Writing Programs
- “Toward Some Ideas at My Being Queer, Queerness Itself, Queer Poetics and Simultaneity,” 2015
- “Scratching Through the Dark: On Race,” 2014
- “Am I A Man?” Writing Masculinities Panel, 2012
Publications
Poetry in Journals & Literary Magazines
2020
2018
- “The Making of the Complete Lover,” Hayden’s Ferry Review
- “Vulnerability or Riding with Death,” The Scores (UK)
- "2019," Poem-A-Day, Academy of American Poets
- "Lyric," Cassius
2016
2015
- “Continuance,” The New Republic
- "Untitled (Fragment)," Connotation Press
- Feeling Myself," Connotation Press
- “Confrontation and Proof,” Los Angeles Review of Books Quarterly
- “Memory and Happiness,” The New England Review
- “Undiscovered Genius of the Mississippi Delta,” Boston Review
- “Boy with Thorn,” Fence
- “He who Refuses Does Not Repent,” Fence
- "Epithalamion," Poem-A-Day, Academy of American Poets
2014
- "Lord and Chariot," The Kenyon Review
- “Black Gentleman,” Poetry
- “I Came I Saw Two Men,” Poetry
- “Study in Black,” Poetry
- “Writing an Elegy,” Poetry
- “Of the Leaves That Have Fallen,” Boston Review
2013
- “Goodnight,” The Economy
- “Deep Purple,” The Economy,
- “Ghost,” The Economy
- “Vanitas with Negro Boy,” The Paris-American
- “A Southern Wind,” The Paris-American
- “Conditions for a Southern Gothic,” Callaloo
2012
- "Southern Gothic," Poetry
- "Swing Low," Poetry
- "You Are Not Christ" (reprint), Poetry
- "Epitaph at the Foot of the Stone," Anti-
- "Quiet Please," Anti-
- “Cirrhosis,” Lo-Ball Magazine
- “One Look At You, My Heart Grows Tipsy,” Lo-Ball Magazine
- “Stung,” Feminist Studies
- “Hither-and-Yon,” Alaska Quarterly Review
- "No Ararat," Linebreak
- "Carnal Knowledge," Muzzle Magazine
- “Faggot,” Knockout Literary Magazine,
- “Modern Ripple,” Knockout Literary Magazine
- “—Me Tangere,” Knockout Literary Magazine
2011
- “One Country,” Callaloo
- “To Be Brought to Water,” Callaloo
- “Do You Feel Me?” Callaloo
- “Mood for Love,” The Feminist Wire
- “Take it Easy,” The Feminist Wire
- “Down Atlantis,” Tidal Basin Review
2010
- “Crescendo,” jubilat
- “Black Iris, Vinyl
- “What I Hear In Your Eyes,” Vinyl
- “Mood Indigo,” PANK (reprint)
- “Mood Indigo,” Ganymede
- “Way Down Yonder,” Indiana Review
- “You Are Not Christ,” The Collagist
- “Final Poem for the Body,” Poets for Living Waters
- “Honeycombed,” Nashville Review
- “Southern Light,” Nashville Review
2009
- “Ghazalfor Emmett Till,” The Other Journal
- “FULL,” DIAGRAM
Anthologies & Art Books
2018
- “Boy with Thorn,” Nepantla: A Journal of QPOC Poetry, ed. Christopher Soma
2017
- “Visible City,” A Tale of Two Americas: Stories of Inequality in a Divided Nation, ed. John Freeman
2016
- "Vanitas with Negro Boy," "Black Iris," Brooklyn Poets Anthology, ed. by Jason Koo
2015
- “Of the Leaves That Have Fallen” (excerpts), ExtraordinaryRendition:(American) Writers Speak of Palestine, edited by Ru Freeman
- "Boy with Thorn," "Vanitas with Negro Boy," Bettering American Poetry, ed. various
2014
- "Visible City," Prospect.3 Notes for Now, ed. Franklin Sirmans
2011
- “Vignette,” Collective Brightness: LGBTIQ Poets on Faith, Religion and Spirituality, ed. Kevin Simmonds
- “Do You Feel Me?,” (reprint) Chorus: A Literary Mixtape, ed. Saul Williams
2010
- “Attraction,” “Church of Abraham,” “FULL,” (reprint) “Ghazal for Emmett Till,”(reprint) Mighty Real: An Anthology of African American Same Gender Loving Writing, ed. R. BryantSmith and Darius Omar Williams
Selected Essays & Short Prose
- “Remember I am Flesh, or the Ecstasy of Devan Shimoyama,” Cry Baby (The Andy Warhol Museum art catalogue)
- "Writing Home," Sarah Lawrence Magazine
- "A Speech Imperfectly Her Own: Camille Rankine’s Incorrect Merciful Impulses," Gloom Cupboard
- Baltimore Mother & Son, Quartz
- “Kinds of Dark,” HARRIET, Poetry Foundation
- “Unleash the Queen,” Visual Aids
- “On Komunyakaa’s Surprise,” Voltage Poetry
- Rickey Laurentiis Recommends, Poets & Writers
Interviews & Published Conversations
2017
- Empathy is an End Point: Solmaz Sharif and Rickey Laurentiis in Conversation, Sublevel Magazine
2016
- A Conversation with Rickey Laurentiis, Blackbird
- Tiny Spills | Rickey Laurentiis, Cosmonauts Avenue
- Solmaz Sharif's Look, Late Night Library
- We Need to be Able to See Each Others’ Wounds, NOLA Defender
- Fractures Through Time, Poets and Writers
2015
- Rickey Laurentiis' Boy with Thorn, Late Night Library
- Poet of the Week, Brooklyn Poets, 2015
- Rickey Laurentiis and Carl Phillips in Conversation, Nepantla
- Rickey Laurentiis, Lightbox
2014
- The Kenyon Review Conversation, Kenyon Review
2013
- Divisions and Connections in Queerdom: A Conversation Between Rickey Laurentiis and Darrel Alejandro Holnes, Lamba Literary Review
- Talking Poetry with Rickey Laurentiis, NEA’s The Big Read
2011
- Meet Rickey Laurentiis, Series Poet, Spring 2011, Tidal Basin Review
2010
- Interview: Rickey Laurentiis, The Collagist
Selected Service
Black Art Futures Fund
- Executive Board Member (2017-Present)
Harlem Children's Zone
- Academy for Leadership and Training, Director, Fall 2016-Summer 2017
- Writing and Curriculum Corps, Director, Fall 2014-Fall 2016
- Writing Corps Curriculum Coordinator and Teaching Specialists, Fall 2013-Fall 2014
St Louise Poetry Center
- "Observable Reading Series," Event Co-curator, Fall 2012 - Spring 2013
Atlantic Center for the Arts
- “Reading Obsession,” Workshop Instructor, Summers 2011 &2012
Brandt & Hochman Literary Agents, Inc.
- Fiction and Nonfiction Manuscript Reader, Spring 2010
Awards, Fellowships and Honors
- 2018
- Whiting Fellowship
- Saint Paul de Vence James Baldwin Writer in Residence, Finalist
2017- Lannan Literary Fellowship
- Fellowship in Creative Writing, Center for African American Poetry and Poetics, University of Pittsburgh
- Read My World Literary Festival (Amsterdam, the Netherlands), Invitation
- Kate Tufts Discovery Award, Finalist
2016- Levis Reading Prize
- Breadloaf Bakeless Fellowship
- Thom Gunn Award for Gay Poetry, Finalist
- Lambda Literary Award for Gay Poetry
- Palestine Festival of Literature (Jerusalem, Palestine), Invitation
2015- Julie Suk Award, Jacar Press
- Poets & Writers named Boy with Thorn one of "Top Ten Debut Poetry Books of 2015.
- Buzzfeed named Boy with Thorn one of "Top 16 Best Poetry Books” of 2015.
- Buzzfeed named Boy with Thorn named one of "24 Best Literary Debuts” of 2015.
- Literary Hub named Boy with Thorn one of the best poetry collections of 2015.
- The Poetry Foundation named Boy with Thorn a Staff Book Pick by
- Split This Rock named Boy with Thorn a "Books We Love” in 2015.
- Minnesota Public Radio named Boy with Thorn a "Most Meaningful Read" Pick.
- Advocate named Boy with Thorn one of six books to read for LGBT readers.
2014- Cave Canem Poetry Prize
- Civitella Ranieri Foundation Residency (Umbertide, Italy)
2013- National Endowment for the Arts Creative Writing Fellowship
- Chancellor’s Graduate Fellowship, Washington University in St Louis
2012- Ruth Lilly Poetry Fellowship, Poetry Foundation
- The Alonzo Davis Fellowship, Virginia Center for the Creative Arts
- Chancellor’s Graduate Fellowship, Washington University in St Louis
2011- Bread Loaf Writers’ Conference Work-Study (Waiters’) Scholarship
- Chancellor’s Graduate Fellowship, Washington University in St Louis
- National Poetry Series, Finalist
- 'your word' Fellowship, Atlantic Center for the Arts
- Discovery”/Boston Review Poetry Award, Semi-finalist
- Stanley and Evelyn Lipkin Prize for Poetry, Sarah Lawrence College
- Cave Canem Fellowship
2010- Benjamin Saltman Award in Poetry First Book Prize, Honorable Mention,
- Puschart Prize Nomination, “Black Iris,” Vinyl
- Cave Canem Fellowship
2009- Reginald Shepherd Memorial Prize, 1st & 3rd Runner-up,
- Cave Canem Fellowship