Shakespeare's Shorts: Jabari Asim, poet

F***ing Shakespeare

Welcome to our second installment of Shakespeare’s Shorts, where your favorites from F***ing Shakespeare host the virtual book tour that no one would have wanted before COVID-19, but that is now giving us a literary lifeline as we’re locked inside! Join us as we keep our thumbs on the pulse of amazing new literature, so it doesn’t get lost to quarantine.

And we have a particularly special guest on today’s episode! Jabari Asim’s poetry book Stop and Frisk comes out this Friday, Juneteenth 2020, from our very own press, Bloomsday Literary. Y’all, this book is already making national headlines. Part rap sheet, part concept album, Jabari’s Stop and Frisk is a deft piece of literature that couldn’t be coming out at a better time. The collection seems to sing from infinitely deep lungs, as Jabari dives into the epidemic of police brutality and what it means to be a Black person in a public space, armed with a poetic scalpel and the gift of persona poetry.

As we chat, Jabari gives us a rec of an album to listen to in the morning before the day even begins. We also discuss unearned advantages and what it means to have enough privilege to pause and take a breath. Best of all, he gives an absolutely stunning reading from his book. If you’re curious about the poems between the pages of this “handsome volume” (his words, not ours!), then lend us your ear for just a few minutes.

You can pre-order Stop and Frisk from Bloomsday Literary here.

Also read his powerful collection of essays, We Can’t Breathe: On Black Lives, White Lies, and the Art of Survival.

Honorable Mentions:

• Nebraska by Bruce Springsteen

• What’s Going On by Marvin Gaye

• Bobby McFarin by Bobby McFarin

• “A Brief for the Defense” by Jack Gilbert