Jenna Bacon, Campus Carrier arts and living editor

Ali Luciani, Campus Carrier asst. arts and living editor

Berry hosted a reading and Q&A for award-winning poet Diamond Forde on Tuesday. The event was part of the Georgia Poetry Circuit, a network of seven Georgia colleges that collaborate to annually bring three poets of national and international interest to each member’s campus. Some of the other schools on the circuit include Georgia Southern University, Valdosta State University and Savannah State University. Aside from giving readings, poets in the circuit usually meet with creative writing students to lead a workshop or answer additional questions. 

Forde is an acclaimed poet and educator whose work has received widespread recognition. She obtained her Master of Fine Arts (MFA) in Creative Writing from the University of Alabama before going on to earn her doctorate from Florida State University. She is the interviews editor for the Honey Literary journal and  also works as an assistant professor at North Carolina State University. Forde’s work has appeared in publications like Obsidian, Poetry Magazine and Callaloo. She has authored two poetry collections titled “Mother Body” and “The Book of Alice,” the latter of which won the Academy of American Poets’ James Laughlin Award. 

According to Associate Professor of Creative Writing Clinton Peters, poets invited to the Georgia Poetry Circuit are selected through a collaborative nomination process.

“It enables us to offer a role in the poetry circuit to writers that have won some prizes and have gotten some buzz from their books,” Peters said. “They have really good publications.”

The first poem that Forde introduced was from her book “Mother Body,” a collection of poems that explores the presence of trauma and autonomy in a Black, female body defined by its capacity for motherhood. Patricia Smith, author and professor of English at the City University of New York praised “Mother Body,” highlighting Forde’s ability to celebrate, grieve for and reframe the experience of being a fat girl while dealing with harmful societal norms. 

According to Forde, “Mother Body” was something that naturally came to be during her master’s program at the University of Alabama, which was a difficult time in her life. 

“I was mostly writing poems that were trying to affirm my ability to live and exist,” Forde said. “I just needed to write poems that told me, ‘It’s okay, Diamond. You deserve to be here.’ And so I was writing all those poems on the side until eventually I had enough poems to become a book.”  

Forde also read from her most recent poetry collection, “The Book of Alice.” Forde described “The Book of Alice” as her way of grieving her grandmother, a devout Christian who lived in the Jim Crow South. When Forde’s grandma passed on, she left Forde an old King James Bible. This inspired Ford to write poetry exploring themes of grief, racism, religion and familial legacy. 

“The Book of Alice” also includes poetry centered on soul food. Forde said that southern cooking is a piece of home she will always carry with her throughout life. 

“I think about home as kind of transmutable,” Forde said “There are aspects of home that literally live within our body. No matter where we go, we take that with us.”

Beyond campus readings, the Georgia Poetry Circuit offers poets professional connection and visibility. Peters said that participating poets visit multiple campuses, lead workshops and engage directly with students.

“They get to share their work at all of these different places,” Peters said. “People buy their books, they hear them read, they get to meet other creative writers and other poets at these schools.”

For students, these events help connect the literature they have read to the writers who create it. Peters said that writers can often seem distant when encountered only through their published work, but an in-person conversation helps students better understand the writing process.

“I think it’s also really good to just see writers in person because sometimes if we have that distant relationship, if we’re just reading a book or something, writers almost feel like fantastical creatures. But to see them in person, especially like during the Q&A’s and with our students, like, if they have them in class or they go out to dinner with them, they really see how they’re just another human,” Peters said. “I think bringing the writers in can be very, very helpful to students.”

Forde’s poetry, particularly “Mother Body,” is marked by vulnerability, a quality Peters believes deepens a reader’s trust. 

“I think we like seeing authors be vulnerable; maybe it gives us strength or whatever to be vulnerable or it just makes us trust them and listen more,” Peters said. “You get to see a different side of someone who’s willing to share whatever experiences or thoughts that they have, and I think someone’s always going to connect to it.”

Junior Mary Jane Buckner attended the reading and found that she connected with some of Forde’s poetry. 

“I don’t frequently read poetry, but after something like this, I feel encouraged to read more and really dive into it,” Buckner said. “[Forde] mentioned how poetry brings out the humanity in us, and after a reading like this, it just clicks.” 

Forde’s visit offered students a chance to see the person behind her poems and to better understand the experiences that shape her work. Events like this highlight the value of the Georgia Poetry Circuit, giving campuses access to writers whose voices might otherwise feel distant. For those who would like to keep up with Forde’s work or purchase more of it, you can do both through her 
website, https://www.diamondforde.com/ .