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With the quest for social change, a new era of black female leadership is emerging challenging social norms and providing fresh, self-determined voices that can no longer be ignored. Their contributions are as varied and as diverse as their myriad backgrounds. One such figure is 26-year old Caribean American Camonghne Felix, a poet, writer, public intellectual, and political strategist.
Currently, Director of Surrogates & Strategic Communications at Elizabeth Warren for President, Ms. Felix was recently listed by Black Youth Project as a “Black Girl From the Future You Should Know.” Her first full-length collection of poems, Build Yourself a Boat, is widely acclaimed. The book was a 2017 University of Wisconsin Press Brittingham and Pollak Prize finalist as well as a 2017 Fordham University Poets Out Loud semi-finalist. Build Yourself a Boat was Longlisted for National Book Award (2019) and is currently on the longlists for the 2020 PEN America Literary Awards (to be announced in January 2020).
Camonghne Felix received an MA in Arts Politics from New York University, an MFA from Bard College, and has received Fellowships from Cave Canem, Callaloo and Poets House.
Big Drum Nation is pleased to introduce a thoughtful and timely review of Build Yourself a Boat by educator Lennel A. George.