Poetry
Teri Ellen Cross Davis, OB Hardison Poetry Series and Folger Poetry Program Manager; Credit: Zoe

Poetry has always been Teri Ellen Cross Davis’ “thing”—from forming a poetry club in high school to starting a coffeehouse poetry series in college. A former Cave Canem fellow (now board member), Davis has spent her days leading the poetry program at Folger Shakespeare Library since the early 2000s. But her nights—and seemingly every minute in between—are devoted to writing poetry, leading workshops, and mentoring young poets. 

“I’m just trying to support poets as much as I can, because I know what it means to get that support, and I’m here to give it,” Davis says. “I’m here to grow people into the poet they want to be.”

And who wouldn’t want her as a mentor? Her list of achievements and awards is long and impressive. Her first book of poetry, 2016’s Haint, won the Ohioana Book Award for Poetry. Her second, a more perfect union, won the Charles B. Wheeler Poetry Prize. Though she received a Masters of Fine Arts in creative writing and poetry from American University, Davis also has a master’s in international affairs; she’s worked on Capitol Hill, lived in Kenya, and is married to another local poet with whom she shares two children. And she is deeply ingrained in D.C.’s poetry scene.

Davis took some time out of her schedule to reflect on D.C.’s community of poets and to share what upcoming events she’s planning to attend this fall.

You got into the D.C. poetry scene the minute you arrived in 1998, what makes it stand out?

The D.C. literary scene is much more open and embracing and non competitive—not always the case in other literary communities … I think it’s because we all struggle to exist underneath the federal shadow. We recognize there’s a lot more to the identity of D.C., and we can give that voice … and we have to fight really hard to get the same amount of attention. So I think there’s a lot of protectiveness and promoting each other’s events … I always say you can throw a stick and hit a literary event in D.C.

So what are the unmissable events on your fall calendar?

E. Ethelbert Miller. Credit: Darrow Montgomery

The furthest one away is the Furious Flower Poetry Conference, which is at James Madison University. I’ve been involved with Furious Flower for a minute, and they only have conferences every 10 years .… [I’m on] two different panels and reading. 

This is the event. We’re literally taking our kids out of school for two days. [Another local poet, E. Ethelbert Miller, will be honored with the conference’s lifetime achievement award, which recognizes poets and scholars who have significantly impacted the field.] Furious Flower IV: Celebrating the Worlds of Black Poetry starts Sept. 18 and runs through the 21 at James Madison University, 800 S. Main St., Harrisonburg, Virginia. $100–$350.

Later on in September, the American Poetry Museum is hosting an event with Afro Latinx voices: Sami Miranda, Raina J. León, Darrel Alejandro Holnes—who used to work for Poetry Society of America, and Malcom Friend. Ancestral Futures Afro-Latinx starts at 3 p.m. on Sept. 22 at the American Poetry Museum, 716 Monroe St. NE #25

Then there’s the PEN/Faulkner Literary Garden Party, which is interesting … [Folger is] sponsoring, along with East City Bookshop and the Writer’s Center. I’m looking forward to that because I just think a literary garden party sounds so elevated and cultural. [Local authors Jamila Minnicks and Shannon Sanders are among the event’s speakers.] The party starts at 3 p.m. on Sept. 28 at the Hill Center, 921 Pennsylvania Ave. SE. $59

Shannon Sanders. Credit: David F. Choy

Anderson .Paak is coming! My husband and I got tickets for that, and I’m mad because I’m missing the big Merriweather festival with Chappell Roan and Hozier [Davis quickly proves herself as a Roan fan when she sings “​H. O. T. T. O. G. O.”]. Anderson .Paak plays at 8 p.m. on Oct. 8 at Merriweather Post Pavilion, 10475 Little Patuxent Pkwy., Columbia. $29.50–$139.50

Of course, there’s the opening reading of [Folger’s] O.B. Hardison Poetry Series with Claudia Rankine and Yesenia Montilla, [author of] Muse Found in a Colonized Body—that’s such a great title. Rankine is a huge poet, and we have a relationship with her at the Folger. Yesenia is a new poet, and I think people will love her work when they hear it. We the People of the United States … Establish Justice starts at 7:30 p.m. on Oct. 15 at Folger Library, 201 E Capitol St. SE. $20.

Camonghne Felix. Credit: Cory VanderPloeg

But the person moderating that event is Camonghne Felix, who’s a poet, essayist, and speechwriter. I’m looking forward to another event with Camonghne with Kyle Dargan on Oct. 17. It’s going to be a lot of fun, because Kyle will get to engage Camonghne about what it means to be a speechwriter, and what it means to be a poet in this political time. I think that’s really cool. As someone who worked on Capitol Hill and whose book was called a more perfect union, I’m very much curious about this intersection of politics and poetry. The Life of a Poet Featuring Celebrated Poet and Essayist Camonghne Felix in Conversation with Kyle Dargan starts at 7 p.m. on Oct 17 at the Hill Center, 921 Pennsylvania Ave. SE. $10.

What do you want City Paper readers to know about D.C.’s poetry scene?

The thing I would tell people about poetry is that poetry can respond to anything. … Don’t think that poetry has to exist in one small room—I’m playing around because “stanza” is actually Italian for a room—but it doesn’t have to exist in one small room. It can exist in the world, and it does.

Check out more of our 2024 Fall Arts Guide here.