F. Douglas Brown – Zero to Three

Late Night Debut, hosted by Amber Keller

This week we feature F. Douglas Brown’s debut poetry collection, Zero to Three, which was chosen by Tracy K. Smith for the Cave Canem Poetry Prize and published by University of Georgia Press. “These poems lead us from the birth cry in a hospital delivery room, to dusk and revelry in Spain, to modern-day Florida and history-laden Mississippi where Trayvon Martin and Emmett Till were slain,” wrote Smith. “Even when what Brown has set out to do is grieve loss, his lines move with a buoyant, marrow-deep music, percussive and rich.”

Act 1: Host Amber Keller covers entertaining book news and cool new debuts

Act 2: Co-host authors Tracy K. Smith and Michael Cirelli discuss F. Douglas Brown’s debut

Act 3: Michael Cirelli speaks with F. Douglas Brown about fatherhood, the power of a good reader, and the need to write or die on the page

Somebody told me, you know, this is not the only book you’re going to write about fatherhood, and that was really really relieving and I was like, you know, you’re right, let’s let it be for this moment right here. And then immediately, once this was all done, I started writing more poems about fatherhood.”

GIVEAWAY: Win a free copy of Zero to Three. Listen to the episode for details, then email your answer to [email protected] by midnight on February 15.

Listen here . . .

PURCHASE ZERO TO THREE HERE

ABOUT OUR ACT 2 CO-HOST AUTHORS:

Tracy K. Smith is the author of three collections of poetry, all published by Graywolf Press: Life on Mars, which received the 2012 Pulitzer Prize; Duende, awarded the 2006 James Laughlin Award; and The Body’s Question, selected by Kevin Young for the 2002 Cave Canem Poetry Prize.

Michael Cirelli is the executive director of Urban Word NYC, a literary arts organization for teens, and author of Lobster with Ol’ Dirty Bastard, Vacations on the Black Star Line, and Everyone Loves The Situation.