M. Ayodele Heath is an American poet,

spoken-word Spoken word is an oral poetic performance art that is based mainly on the poem as well as the performer's aesthetic qualities. It is a 20th-century continuation of an ancient oral artistic tradition that focuses on the aesthetics of recitation ...

performer, and fiction writer.

Life

Born in

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Georgia (U.S. state), most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. It is the county seat, seat of Fulton County, Georg ...

, M. Ayodele Heath studied electrical engineering at the

Georgia Institute of Technology The Georgia Institute of Technology (commonly referred to as Georgia Tech, GT, and simply Tech or the Institute) is a public university, public research university and Institute of technology (United States), institute of technology in Atlanta, ...

and holds an MFA in Poetry from

New England College New England College (NEC) is a private liberal arts college in Henniker, New Hampshire. It is accredited by the New England Commission of Higher Education. As of fall 2020, the college enrolled 4,327 students (1,776 undergraduate and 2,551 grad ...

. He was a two-time Southeastern Regional Poetry Slam Individual Champion (1999, 2000) and a top-10 individual finisher at the

National Poetry Slam The National Poetry Slam (NPS) was a performance poetry competition where teams from across the United States, Canada, and, occasionally, Europe and Australia, participate in a large-scale poetry slam. The event occurred in early August every y ...

(1999). His first book of poems, ''Otherness'', was published in 2011 on Brick Road Poetry Press. He is creator of the collaborative poetry form, electronic corpse, and editor of the anthology, ''Electronic Corpse: Poems from a Digital Salon'' (Svaha Paradox, 2014).

Awards

* 1999, 2000 Southeastern Regional Poetry Slam Individual Champion * 2001 Emerging Artist grant from the Atlanta Bureau for Cultural Affairs * 2002, 2003 Fellowship, Summer Poetry at Idyllwild * 2005 Fellowship, Caversham Center for Writers & Artists, South Africa * 2007 McEver Visiting Chair in Writing at the

* 2009 Dorothy Sargent Rosenberg Poetry Prize * 2010 Fellowship,

Cave Canem Foundation Cave Canem Foundation is an American 501(c)(3) organization founded in 1996 by poets Toi Derricotte and Cornelius Eady to remedy the underrepresentation and isolation of African-American poets in Master of Fine Arts (MFA) degree programs and wr ...

* 2011 RHINO Editors' Prize

Bibliography

* ''Electronic Corpse: Poems from a Digital Salon'', poems (Svaha Paradox (2014)). * ''Otherness'', poems (Brick Road Poetry Press, 2011). * Heath's poetry has appeared in the anthologies ''Poetry Slam: the Competitive Art of Performance Poetry'' (

Manic D Press Manic D Press is an American literary publisher, press based in San Francisco, California publishing fiction (novels and short stories), poetry, cultural studies, art, narrative-oriented underground comix, comix, children's books, and alternative ...

, 2000), ''My South: a People, a Place, a World All Its Own'' ( Rutledge Hill Press, 2005), and ''The Southern Poetry Anthology, Volume V'' (Texas Review Press, 2012). * Heath's poetry has appeared in numerous journals including ''

Callaloo Callaloo ( , ; many spelling variants, such as kallaloo, calaloo, calalloo, calaloux, or callalloo) is a plant used in popular dishes in many Caribbean countries, while for other Caribbean countries, a stew made with the plant is called call ...

'', '' Chattahoochee Review'', ''

Crab Orchard Review Southern Illinois University (SIU) is a Public university, public research university in Carbondale, Illinois, United States. Chartered in 1869, SIU is the oldest and flagship campus of the Southern Illinois University system. SIU enrolls stude ...

'', ''diode Poetry Journal'', ''Eclectic Literary Forum'', ''

Mississippi Review The University of Southern Mississippi (Southern Miss or USM) is a public research university with its main campus in Hattiesburg, Mississippi. It is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools to award bachelor's, master's, ...

'', ''Mythium'', ''New Millennium Writings'', '' New York Quarterly'', ''

Open City In war, an open city is a settlement which has announced it has abandoned all defensive efforts, generally in the event of the imminent capture of the city to avoid destruction. Once a city has declared itself open, the opposing military will ...

'', and ''

storySouth ''storySouth'' is an online quarterly literary magazine that publishes fiction, poetry, criticism, essays, and visual artwork, with a focus on the Southern United States. The journal also runs the annual Million Writers Award to select the best ...

Film/Video

* ''3-Minute Activists: the Soul of Slam'' (Mad Mouth Media, Cogitate Productions), feature-length film (2014). * ''28 Days of Poetry: Poets Make Black History (Week 1)'', web video series (2011). * ''28 Days of Poetry: Poets Make Black History (Week 2)'', web video series (2011). * ''28 Days of Poetry: Poets Make Black History (Week 3)'', web video series (2011). * ''28 Days of Poetry: Poets Make Black History (Week 4)'', web video series (2011).

References

External links

VIDEO
lecture, "Poetry 2.0: Poems for a Digital Age," TEDxPeacthreeSalon
INTERVIEWS
interview, "Three Questions," Extract(s): a daily dose of lit

interview, "A Southern Griot and His Craft," State of the ReUnion

interview, Roswell Neighbor

interview, RHINO Magazine

interview, FGTV's Writers in Focus

interview, Creative Loafing

interview, at Business of Words
ARTICLES ABOUT

* ttps://web.archive.org/web/20110723231433/http://oaklandwritingproject.net/content/wp-content/uploads/2009/07/elanfall2002.pdf article, Out Loud Poetry, Oakland Writing Project Newsletter
article, Poetry Slam A Fingersnapping Good Time, The Collegian of Georgia Perimeter College

article, Spoken Word Event Draws Large Crowd, Jackson Progress-Argus

article, Review: Anthology Celebrates Georgia Poets, Jackson Progress-Argus
POEMS (TEXT)

* ttp://www.storysouth.com/.../things-my-father-gave-me-which-i-never-asked-for.html poem, Things My Father Gave Me (Which I Never Asked for), at storySouth
short story, The Gospel According to Queen James, at storySouth

poem, The Stuttering House Negro Diviner Speaks: Heath Plantation, 1863, at RHINO

AUDIO RECORDINGS
audio poem, Urban Percussions, at Badilisha Poetry Xchange

audio poem, Urban Percussions, at IndieFeed Performance Poetry

audio poem, Of Ash & Dust: a Tribute to the Crew of STS-107, Space Shuttle Columbia, at Indiefeed Performance Poetry

* ttps://web.archive.org/web/20160304061307/http://fatcityreview.com/praisesong-for-the-marvelous-city-m-ayodele-heath/ audio poem, Praisesong for the Marvelous City, at Fat City Review {{DEFAULTSORT:Heath, M. Ayodele African-American poets Writers from Atlanta Poets from Georgia (U.S. state) Living people 1974 births New England College alumni 21st-century American poets 21st-century African-American writers 20th-century African-American writers