Check out this spotlight on my decision to attend grad school Minnesota and why I love the ACL program. Thanks to Mia and the team at the U for this great experience and opportunity.

A quick update around distribution of Fantasma:

The release date for the chapbook will be pushed forward to late 2018 or early 2019. There have been some important edits and unexpected delays both with myself and the publisher, so please be patient as the process unfolds. Once I have a new, confirmed release date, I will share it.

New poem at Duende Literary. This poem is from an unpublished collection around experiences as a teaching artist in Detroit. Story retold with permission.

Read my poem, here.

Dear friends,

I’m thrilled to announce the pre-sale period for my new chapbook is here. Thank you to the editorial staff at Finishing Line Press and all those that helped these poems take shape. This is a limited-print run, which means if you want a copy, you should pre-order it now to guarantee it’s received. Also, as a condition of my contract with the press, a nominal amount of books need to be pre-sold in order to activate the full printing. The book will arrive in November once that number has been met. Thank you for your time and continued support. Please continue to buy books, especially from independent presses, publishers, and book stores.

– B

CLICK HERE TO PRE-ORDER

Fantasma
By Benjamin Alfaro
Finishing Line Press

$13.99 | Pre-Order Ships November 23, 2018

Benjamin Alfaro‘s FANTASMA is filled with ghosts. There are alternate takes, reimagined legends, and survival myths. Alfaro is a poet who knows, “the job of resurrectors is to wake up the dead.” Watch him take the ordinary bones of blue collar lives and family histories, polishing them until they reveal their many dazzling possibilities.
– José Olivarez, author of CITIZEN ILLEGAL

This video is the culminating piece of my Kresge fellowship. Thank you to the amazing team at Kresge Arts in Detroit and to The Right Brothers for putting together this beautiful snapshot into my life.

I’m excited to be the featured performer for the All Saints Literacy Center’s (ASLC) spring fundraiser. This great organization is located in Southwest Detroit and is committed to helping adults reach their educational, social and career goals by improving their ELA skills. While the event is a private event, please check out more about ASLC, here.

I had a great time reading alongside friend and colleague (and recent graduate!) Megan Stockton for the Motor Signal Reading Series.

Thank you to the great community-driven work that event organizers like Literary Detroit are doing. This was a really fun and beautiful send-off as my last Michigan show for some time. Check out some photos below!