The global Coronavirus pandemic has changed how many Americans work — including Pulitzer-winning poets. Tyehimba Jess' “Olio” was awarded the 2017 Poetry prize; the board described the book as “a distinctive work that melds performance art with the deeper art of poetry to explore collective memory and challenge contemporary notions of race and identity.”
Jess discussed his creative process, remote teaching during the pandemic and his new role as president of the board of directors at Cave Canem, a Brooklyn-based nonprofit focused on “cultivating the artistic and professional growth of African-American poets.”
“Olio,” recently was chosen for One Book, One Bronx, a free adult book club for residents of the northernmost borough of New York City — “and, by Zoom, the world,” as Jess said. Although discussions of the work have been held electronically, there is no digital version of the text itself, which Jess referred to as "a celebration of the technology of the printed page."
Wave Books' beautiful edition would prove challenging to replicate in digital form. In the Bronx, where bookstores have struggled to survive and the pandemic has limited openings of schools and libraries, accessibility can be an issue — and Jess shared his thoughts on finding one's way as a writer or artist by discussing the characters who appear in the book.
Jess said he's "on a mission to engage the reader in the same way that the owners of the Olio engage the audience," and spoke of the needs of both himself and the artists and performers whose spirit he captures in his poetry to "manipulate form to serve one's own purposes," "find solutions to channel their own artistic endeavors" and "invent new ways of approaching craft" in order to "navigate difficult spaces."
At a moment of renewed national reckoning on race, exploring the personalities Jess researched to author "Olio" — whom Jess notes he should have been learning about since grade school — is illuminating. He spoke of posthumous 1976 Special Citation recipient Scott Joplin's infusion of syncopated ryhthms into music performed on European instruments, underpinned by Joplin's own classical training, giving rise to the quintessentially American sound of ragtime. Jess also homed in on sculptor Edmonia Lewis, particularly her desire to free herself of the "hindrances of racism and sexism" by pursuing her art in Rome and "creating her own legacy by leaving the country." America "struggles with reconciling its origins," and its mission — "which is equality" — Jess said.
"Black artists are still challenged regarding the ways that we are asked to compromise ourselves," he added, noting that it has led to the "creation, through ingenuity, of ways to forgo that compromise."
In addition to writing, Jess is a professor who like many in publishing, academia and beyond have spent many hours on video-conferencing platforms over the last 12 months.
The pandemic, Jess said, has pushed us “five to 10 years into the future in terms of electronic access,” with the caveat that it is “not going to replace in-person contact.”
He expressed admiration for students tuning in from their kitchen tables with children in the background, or those joining class from their cars — the only quiet space they might have available to study and learn. Jess said he hadn't been to campus since March of 2020.
"Teaching is not going to be the same after this," he said, anticipating that there will always be an electronic component going forward.
On the positive side of remote interactions, he mentioned that he had witnessed poetry readings in South Africa from his home in New York during the last year. Jess noted that Cave Canem — which has supported numerous Pulitzer-winning poets, including Natasha Trethewey, Tracy K. Smith, Gregory Pardlo and Yusef Komunyakaa — can reach new audiences through technology that has become commonplace during these otherwise trying days.
Visit Cave Canem's online event calendar here to join the organization's free upcoming readings and discussions.
To read some of Jess' work online, visit the Poetry Foundation's website, here.