... but there is space here for bones
a ribcage, brimming like yours.
was born and raised in Detroit, MI by two auto workers, one a quiet lover of books, and the other a boisterous Baptist preacher. His twin sister often spoke for him in public, but he later found a voice through music. During a stint as a hip hop artist/producer, he began writing poetry as a self-taught slam performer. Shortly after, he began studying verse seriously under the mentorship of Detroit poet Vievee Francis-Olzmann. Since then he’s gone on to win several honors, publish dozens of poems in literary journals, share his work with hundreds of audiences, and receive a Masters of Fine Arts degree, despite never attending a four-year undergraduate program.
Jamaal is a Cave Canem Fellow, Callaloo Fellow and graduate from Warren Wilson’s MFA for writers. He is the author of two poetry chapbooks (The God Engine, 2009 and The Whetting of Teeth, 2012) and editor of the Organic Weapon Arts Chapbook Series. His work appears in Callaloo, Indiana Review, Spoon River Poetry Review, Sou’western, Blackbird and Verse Daily among other journals, magazines, and anthologies. He has appeared on radio, television, and in documentaries such as “A Poet in Every Classroom” and “Televising a Revolution,” jury prize winner at the 2010 Trinity Film Festival.
Honors include two scholarships to the Bread Loaf Writers Conference, two Pushcart Prize nominations, an International Publication Prize from Atlanta Review, and finalist nods for the 2010 and 2011 Ruth Lilly Fellowships. Currently, Jamaal is the 2011-2013 Stadler Fellow at Bucknell University where he hosts a poetry slam, acts as associate editor for the lit journal West Branch, and fusses over his first full-length manuscript, which was a finalist for The National Poetry Series among other book prizes.
Remaining active in the poetry slam community, Jamaal May is a three-time Rustbelt Regional Poetry Slam Champion, two-time Detroit Slam Champion, and two-time Individual World Poetry Slam finalist, finishing as high as second place. He has coached three Brave New Voices youth slam teams, taught poetry classes through the Inside Out Literary Arts Project, and given readings, lectures and workshops at schools, bars, libraries, and living rooms across the United States and Canada.
