Furious Flower Poetry Center

Celebrate. Educate. Preserve.

The nation's first academic center for Black poetry, Furious Flower was established on the James Madison University campus to serve creative writers, literary and cultural scholars, and poetry lovers everywhere.

Furious Flower Poetry Center Reading Series

Lyrae Van Clief-Stefanon

Wednesday, April 9th, 2025 | Taylor Hall 404, 5:30pm

This event is free and open to the public

National Poetry Month Workshops

Poetry Extravaganza!

Thursday, April 17th, 4:00pm

A fun student poetry workshop and nexus for creatives on campus in collaboration with the Center for Multicultural Student Services.

Are you a writer, poet, singer or creative of any sort on campus? Do you desire expression and community? This is for you!

Theme: Home (Place of refuge or flight?)

Venue: Lavender Lounge

Led by Dr. Gbenga Adesina

Poet-TREE: Nature Writing Poetry Workshop in Collaboration with the EJC Arboretum

Saturday, April 19th, 12:30-2:30pm

Theme: Taste and Texture of Home

Venue: Frances Plecker Educational Center, the EJC Arboretum.

Led by Dr. Gbenga Adesina

Walk-ins welcome.

A Poetry Writing Workshop

Saturday, May 3rd, 12:00-3:00pm

Theme: Home: Memory, Place, Belonging

Venue: Asbury United Methodist Church

Led by Dr. Gbenga Adesina

This workshop is for people of all ages.

Walk-ins welcome.

Spotlight

furious flower iv

In Case You Missed It: You can still be a part of the magic that was Furious Flower IV!

You can view the livestreamed events including the Magnitude & Bond panel, the 2024 Furious Flower Poetry Prize Reading, and the two Abundance: A Global Poetry Performance panels in this playlist found on our YouTube channel.

You can also listen to the companion podcast, Furious Flower IV: Worlds of Black Poetry, created in collaboration with With Good Reason on both Soundcloud and Apple Podcasts (linked above). New episodes drop every Wednesday through November 20.

The galleries we co-sponsored also remain up in Lisanby, 150 Franklin St Gallery, and Union Galleries in Festival Student & Conference Center.