Busboys and Poets featured a reading by their poet-in-residence Derrick Weston Brown in honor of his first collection of poetry, Wisdom Teeth.
I had not heard Brown before the reading. I never went to the open mics nor the slams he hosted. In fact, when I looked online for some of his poems, I felt pretty sure that I would not like his writing.
Much of the reason for this is cultural differences – differences at least partly resulting from race. I am white. I was raised by white people who primarily inculcated me in the cultural specifics white American and Anglo-European culture. The culture of the poetry at Busboys and Poets is inextricably tied to Washington, DC’s African-American history and culture.
The disconnect for me is that, for me, poetry is always most deeply informed by the written word. By the physical page and appearance of the words upon it (my parents each spent much of my childhood reading in silence, especially during difficult or upsetting times, and this made my ties to the written word almost unavoidable). Slam poetry, hip hop inflected poetry – these are forms more deeply informed by the oral word.
But…
Once I was able to flip through Wisdom Teeth, I loved it. Really loved it.
Brown’s poetry is still intimately and predominantly informed by oral culture, but also by the formal techniques of the written word. A series of poems near the beginning about a group of slaves in the American south is especially affecting in its combining of colloquial language and oral traditions with the contemporary forms of written poetry.
Of course, now the question becomes, do I like his poetry only because it touches on the poetic traditions of “my” (read: white, European) culture?
Such tricky ethical, philosophical, and sociological questions aside, check out Wisdom Teeth.
the coffee philosopher 
Well. I stumbled upon your entry today and I was pleasantly surprised by the review of my reading and of my book. I am glad to know that the reading and the book toppled your preconceived notions that you would not like my writing due to our cultural differences. I am also glad that the “word” both oral and written has hopefully reconnected your disconnect regarding oral traditions versus written traditions. For me, the oral is the first teacher, it is undeniably human, it is universal, and it eventually the gateway to the written. A few weeks ago I had a reading in Los Angeles with several poets. Among them was Marc Smith, the Godfather, founder of the Poetry Slam format. He revealed that he had invented the slam in order to create a balance between the written word read from the page, and the performance. He just wanted to break the misconception that poetry readings had to be quiet and unassuming. The poet Thomas Sayers Ellis says, “Whether on stage or the page, all poems perform” and for me, maintaining such a marriage is a way to reach folks on both sides of the spectrum. I hope I’ve been successful in that regard. Enjoy the book and thanks for the review. I’d love to discuss those tricky ethical, philosophical, and sociological questions with you in the near future.
Nuff Respect,
Derrick Weston Brown
I’d enjoy discussing those questions, myself. I’m still deeply attached to the written word – a product of a general cultural background, as well as a specific one (parents who avoided each other by burying themselves in books) – appreciated your perspective.
And I’m glad that you found my positive review of your book. It’s a great achievement!