{"product_id":"respect-the-mic-celebrating-20-years-of-poetry-from-a-chicagoland-high-school-9780593226827","title":"Respect the MIC: Celebrating 20 Years of Poetry from a Chicagoland High School","description":"\u003cb\u003eAn expansive, moving poetry anthology, representing 20 years of poetry from students and alumni of Chicago's Oak Park River Forest High School Spoken Word Club -- now in paperback!\u003c\/b\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cb\u003e\"Poets I know sometimes joke that the poetry club at Oak Park River Forest High School is the best MFA program in the Chicagoland area. Like all great jokes, this one is dead serious.\" -Eve L. Ewing, award-winning poet, playwright, scholar, and sociologist \u003c\/b\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eFor Chicago's Oak Park and River Forest High School's Spoken Word Club, there is one phrase that reigns supreme: Respect the Mic. It's been the club's call to arms since its inception in 1999. As its founder Peter Kahn says, \"It's a call of pride and history and tradition and hope.\" \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eThis vivid collection of poetry and prose -- curated by award-winning and bestselling poets Hanif Abdurraqib, Franny Choi, Peter Kahn, and Dan \"Sully\" Sullivan -- illuminates just that, uplifting the incredible legacy this community has cultivated. Among the dozens of current students and alumni, \u003ci\u003eRespect the Mic \u003c\/i\u003efeatures work by NBA champion Iman Shumpert, National Youth Poet Laureate Kara Jackson, National Youth Poet Laureate Kara Jackson, National Student Poet Natalie Richardson, comedian Langston Kerman, and more.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAbout the Author\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eHanif Abdurraqib\u003c\/b\u003e is a poet, essayist, and cultural critic from Columbus, Ohio. His poetry has been published in \u003ci\u003ePEN American, Muzzle, Vinyl\u003c\/i\u003e, and other journals, and his essays and criticism have been published in \u003ci\u003eThe New Yorker\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003ePitchfork\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eThe New York Times\u003c\/i\u003e, and \u003ci\u003eFader\u003c\/i\u003e. His first full-length poetry collection, \u003ci\u003eThe Crown Ain't Worth Much\u003c\/i\u003e, was named a finalist for the Eric Hoffer Book Award and nominated for a Hurston-Wright Legacy Award. His first collection of essays, \u003ci\u003eThey Can't Kill Us Until They Kill Us\u003c\/i\u003e, was named a book of the year by NPR, \u003ci\u003eEsquire\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eBuzzFeed, O: The Oprah Magazine\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003ePitchfork, \u003c\/i\u003e and \u003ci\u003eChicago Tribune\u003c\/i\u003e, among others. \u003ci\u003eGo Ahead in the Rain: Notes to a Tribe Called Quest \u003c\/i\u003ewas a \u003ci\u003eNew York Times \u003c\/i\u003ebestseller and a National Book Critics Circle Award and Kirkus Prize finalist and was longlisted for the National Book Award. His second collection of poems, \u003ci\u003eA Fortune for Your Disaster\u003c\/i\u003e, won the Lenore Marshall Poetry Prize. He is a graduate of Beechcroft High School. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cb\u003eFranny Choi\u003c\/b\u003e is the author of two poetry collections, \u003ci\u003eSoft Science\u003c\/i\u003e (Alice James Books, 2019) and \u003ci\u003eFloating, Brilliant, Gone \u003c\/i\u003e(Write Bloody Publishing, 2014). She is a Kundiman Fellow, a 2019 Ruth Lilly and Dorothy Sargent Rosenberg Fellow, and a graduate of the University of Michigan's Helen Zell Writers Program. A recipient of numerous awards including the Holmes National Poetry Prize and the Elgin Award for speculative poetry, she co-hosts the poetry podcast\u003ci\u003e VS\u003c\/i\u003e alongside fellow poet Danez Smith. Franny has taught creative writing for over ten years in various contexts, including Williams College, the University of Michigan, Project VOICE, and Inside Out Literary Arts.\u003cbr\u003eShe lives in Northampton, Massachusetts. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eA former Chicago social worker, \u003cb\u003ePeter Kahn\u003c\/b\u003e has been an English teacher since 1994 and a Spoken Word Educator since 2003 at Oak Park\/River Forest High School. His students can be seen in \u003ci\u003eLouder Than a Bomb \u003c\/i\u003eand \u003ci\u003eAmerica to Me\u003c\/i\u003e. A founding member of the London poetry collective Malika's Kitchen, he co-founded the London Teenage Poetry Slam and, as a Visiting Fellow at Goldsmiths-University of London, created the Spoken Word Education Training Programme. Peter was a featured speaker at the National Council of Teachers of English's annual convention and runner-up in the NCTE and Penguin Random House Maya Angelou Teacher Award for Poetry. Along with Patricia Smith and Ravi Shankar, he edited \u003ci\u003eThe Golden Shovel Anthology: New Poems Honoring Gwendolyn Brooks, \u003c\/i\u003ereviewed in the \u003ci\u003eNew York Times\u003c\/i\u003e by Claudia Rankine. Peter's 2020 poetry collection, \u003ci\u003eLittle Kings\u003c\/i\u003e, has poems featured in the\u003ci\u003e London Guardian\u003c\/i\u003e and \u003ci\u003eThe Forward Book of Poetry\u003c\/i\u003e. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eA founding member of the Oak Park \u0026amp; River Forest High School Spoken Word Club, \u003cb\u003eDan \"Sully\" Sullivan\u003c\/b\u003e is a three-time Chicago poetry slam champion and author of \u003ci\u003eThe Blue Line Home\u003c\/i\u003e (EM Press, 2014). He is a recipient of The Gwendolyn Brooks Open Mic Poetry Award, the Earl J.S. Ho Creative Writing Teaching Award, and the Writer in Southeast Asia Award. Sully holds an MA\/MFA from Indiana University. His work has been featured on National Public Radio and HBO's\u003ci\u003e Russell Simmons Presents: Def Poetry\u003c\/i\u003e. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cb\u003eTimba Smits \u003c\/b\u003eis a curious, multidisciplinary graphic artist and lifelong member of the Daydream Club. His work--often characterized by nostalgia and childhood memories--stretches across both analog and digital mediums and combines a recognisable blend of illustration, typography, satirical humour, and pop-cultural references. Notable clients include AirBnB, Apple, Canon, Coors (Miller Lite), Disney, ESPN, Faber, Laurence King, Playboy, Popular Science, \u0026amp; Wired. Learn more about his work at https: \/\/timbasmits.com\/\u003cbr\u003e","brand":"Penguin Workshop","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":50618820690194,"sku":"9780593226827","price":9.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0831\/4771\/8930\/files\/img_7388620c-96ac-4b62-8744-451135dba195.jpg?v=1732541964","url":"https:\/\/surprise-castle.myshopify.com\/products\/respect-the-mic-celebrating-20-years-of-poetry-from-a-chicagoland-high-school-9780593226827","provider":"Surprise Castle","version":"1.0","type":"link"}