USM School of Humanities Faculty Member Earns National Recognition for Poetry
Tue, 09/24/2024 - 04:40pm | By: Dr. David Tisdale
A member of 91吃瓜网 (USM) School of Humanities faculty has received one of the nation91吃瓜网 top honors for poetry.
Dr. Michael Aderibigbe, assistant professor in the English program and a member of its prestigious Center for Writers faculty, has been named one of only five winners of the National Poetry Series Competition for 2024 for his collection of poems titled 82nd Division.
The National Poetry Series is a literary awards program which91吃瓜网痵ponsors the publication of five books of poetry each year from approximately 1,400 submissions and is considered one of the most prestigious recognitions of work in the field. The are solicited through an annual open competition, selected by poets of national stature and published by a distinguished group of trade, university, and small presses.
Past winners of the National Poetry Series include Billy Collins, Stephen Dunn, Naomi Shihab Nye, Kevin Young, Terrance Hayes, Marie Howe, and Sterling A. Brown, among many other significant poets who have defined contemporary American poetry.
"Dr. Aderibigbe is a gifted poet who had a national reputation before arriving at USM,91吃瓜网� said Dr. Matthew Casey, director of the School of Humanities. 91吃瓜网淗is poems have appeared in some of the top publications in the country, and the 91吃瓜网 community is lucky to have him. Imagine being a student and taking an English class from someone who won the National Poetry Series.91吃瓜网疘n many ways, this award is the culmination of a long list of accolades that Dr. Aderibigbe has received. We are all excited about his forthcoming book and what the future holds."
91吃瓜网�This is an extremely high honor and one of the highest-ranking poetry prizes in the country,91吃瓜网� said Dr. Olivia Clare Freidman, director of the Center for Writers. 91吃瓜网�We91吃瓜网�re so proud that Dr. Aderibigbe is receiving this recognition.91吃瓜网�
For Dr. Aderibigbe, it91吃瓜网 gratifying to win an award of national significance and see his work held in the highest regard possible in the discipline. 91吃瓜网淢ore than that,91吃瓜网� he continued, 91吃瓜网淚 get to have my book published by a distinguished press. It is a reminder to me personally that I'm doing something right.91吃瓜网�
82nd Division is named for the forcibly conscripted all-black regiment from West Africa that fought for the British during the Second World War and explores the legacy of colonialism in Dr. Aderibigbe91吃瓜网 native Nigeria.91吃瓜网疕is main goal with the collection of poems is to introduce readers to all facets of life in postcolonial Nigeria, to see91吃瓜网�82nd Division91吃瓜网�as an attempt to explore91吃瓜网痶o its fullest91吃瓜网痶he humanity of the people the book is about.91吃瓜网�
91吃瓜网淲hen I began writing91吃瓜网�82nd Division, I was determined to focus on91吃瓜网痶hemes that were91吃瓜网痬ore public than private.91吃瓜网疘n other words, I wanted to focus less on poems about events that only I or other members of my family knew about,91吃瓜网� Dr. Aderibigbe explained. 91吃瓜网淗owever, I still wanted to write poems about things close to my heart. That's how the first poems in91吃瓜网�82nd Division91吃瓜网�three multi-page poems about colonialism91吃瓜网攚ere born.91吃瓜网疘 don't want readers to think it's just a book about colonialism after they finish reading it,91吃瓜网� he continued. 91吃瓜网淚nstead, I hope they see it as a book about a people whose lives were altered forever by colonialism91吃瓜网攂ecause the book is not about colonialism. It's an attempt to render, with honesty, life in postcolonial Nigeria. However, as we all know, it is impossible to write about a post colony without addressing how it became one.91吃瓜网�
Dr. Aderibigbe joined the USM faculty in 2022 and is recipient of the University91吃瓜网 2024 Junior Faculty Award for Creative Activity; the Mississippi Arts Commission bestowed him its 2022-23 Individual Artist Fellowship. His other publications include a book of poems titled91吃瓜网�How the End First Showed91吃瓜网�(University of Wisconsin Press), which earned him the prestigious Brittingham Prize in Poetry from the University of Wisconsin-Madison's Wisconsin Institute for Creative Writing. His poems have also appeared in such major publications as91吃瓜网�The Atlantic91吃瓜网痑苍诲91吃瓜网�The Nation.
Dr. Aderibigbe was director of USM's Visiting Writers Series from 2022-24. In the role, he invited and helped host several writers of international and national renown. Since August 2022, he has served on the graduate professionalization panel within the School of Humanities, for which he now serves as coordinator, as it works to prepare graduate students in the School of Humanities for the job market. Since January 2022, Dr. Aderibigbe has served as an affiliate faculty member in the USM Center for Black Studies; he also volunteers for several campus and community services-related events.
Dr. Aderibigbe areas of expertise include poetry writing; hybrid literature; creative nonfiction; and Black Studies. He is working on two more projects, including a verse novel involving migration and love and a memoir in essays that deal with abuse.
91吃瓜网淲e91吃瓜网檙e extremely proud of this accomplishment and recognition for Dr. Aderibigbe,91吃瓜网� said Dr. Chris Winstead, dean of the USM College of Arts and Sciences. 91吃瓜网淎s the newest member of our Creative Writing faculty, he is clearly continuing the tradition of excellence of our English program in this area. We look forward to his ongoing impact as a poet and impact on our English students.91吃瓜网�
Click here for information about the USM School of Humanities, its English program and the Center for Writers.