A Profile of Danez Smith at The Guardian

Lanre Bakare provides readers of The Guardian with an in-depth profile of Smith, the youngest winner of the Forward Prize. He writes that Smith, who "was born into a devout Baptist household in St Paul, Minnesota [...] grew up, on this border between the blacker areas and the white middle-class enclaves of the city, as a black, queer, God-fearing child." Picking up there: 

The future poet and spoken-word artist would listen to family members and friends telling stories on the porch, impressed by their way with words. The friends came and went but there was always one constant: church. Smith may have struggled to fit in among the congregation but Sunday morning meant worship, and more importantly a sermon. It was that rousing religious oration that opened up the world of writing and performance.

“The first writing I ever loved was the Sunday sermon,” Smith says when we meet in Manchester, ahead of a live performance. “There are moments in a Baptist church when the pastor gets caught in the spirit … I think that’s what I’m trying to do. I just have to get it out. Just let me get it out.”

For the last decade Smith – who is non-binary and uses the pronouns them/they – has been letting the spirit take over. Three books of searing, brazenly queer and political poetry have made them one of the most discussed poets of their generation, and placed them at the vanguard of an African American movement that has seen spoken-word artists move from stages and backrooms to book deals and awards success.

Continue reading at The Guardian.