Jamaal May

Jamaal May is a poet, editor, and educator from Detroit, MI where he taught poetry in public schools and worked as a freelance audio engineer and touring performer. He is the author of Hum (Alice James Books, Nov 2013), winner of the Beatrice Hawley Award, and two poetry chapbooks (The God Engine and The Whetting of Teeth). His poems have been published widely in journals such as POETRY, Ploughshares, The Believer, Kenyon Review, Gulf Coast, and New England Review. Honors include the 2011-13 Stadler Fellowship from The Stadler Center for Poetry at Bucknell University, the 2013 Indiana Review Poetry Prize, and scholarships and fellowships from Bread Loaf Writers Conference, Cave Canem and Callaloo. In addition to being a finalist at several national and international poetry slams, he is a three-time Rustbelt Regional Slam champion and has been a member of six national poetry slam teams, including five from Detroit and one NYC LouderARTS team. A graduate of Warren Wilson’s MFA program for writers, Jamaal has served as Associate Editor of West Branch and is currently the series editor, graphic designer and filmmaker for the Organic Weapon Arts Chapbook and Video Series. He teaches in the Vermont College of Fine Arts MFA program.