Angel Nafis facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Angel Nafis
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Nafis in 2014
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| Born | December 1988 (age 36) Ann Arbor, Michigan, U.S. |
| Occupation | Poet and spoken-word artist |
| Language | English |
| Education | Hunter College (BA), Warren Wilson College (MFA candidate) |
| Genre | Spoken-word poetry |
| Notable works | BlackGirl Mansion |
| Notable awards |
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| Partner | Shira Erlichman |
Angel Nafis (born in December 1988) is an American poet. She is also a spoken-word artist. This means she performs her poems out loud. Angel Nafis wrote a book of poems called BlackGirl Mansion in 2012. Today, she lives in Brooklyn, New York.
Contents
Early Life and Growing Up
Angel Nafis grew up in Ann Arbor, Michigan. She went to Huron High School there. School was sometimes hard for her, but she finished in 2006. She was part of the Ann Arbor Youth Poetry Slam Team in 2005 and 2006. A poetry slam is a fun competition where poets perform their original work.
Angel was raised in a Muslim family. Her mother passed away when Angel was young. So, her father raised her. Her father's family came from New York and Georgia. Her mother's family was from Chicago and Mississippi.
Education and Learning
Angel Nafis studied at Hunter College. She earned her bachelor's degree there. She is also working on her master's degree in poetry. She is studying at Warren Wilson College.
Her Career as a Poet
Angel Nafis is a special writer called a Cave Canem fellow. This means she was chosen for a program that supports African American poets. She also had a residency at the Millay Colony. This is a place where artists can go to focus on their work.
She started and runs the Greenlight Bookstore Poetry Salon. This salon hosts readings and writing workshops. It's a place for poets to share their work and learn.
Angel Nafis also works with another poet, Morgan Parker. They have a group called The Other Black Girl Collective. It's a duo that performs Black feminist poetry. They travel around the world to share their work.
Her poems have been featured in many places. These include the BreakBeat Poets Anthology and Buzzfeed Reader. Her work has also appeared in the Rumpus and Poetry magazine. Other places include Found Magazine's Requiem for a Paper Bag, Decibels, and The Rattling Wall. You can also find her poems in Union Station Magazine, The Bear River Review, MUZZLE Magazine, Prelude Mag, Sixth Finch, and Mosaic Magazine.
Personal Life
Angel Nafis lives in Brooklyn. She shares her home with Shira Erlichman. Shira is an artist, writer, and musician. They have toured together for their "Odes for You" tour.
In June 2020, Angel Nafis joined many other poets. They signed an open letter to the Poetry Foundation. This letter asked for changes at the foundation. They wanted leaders to resign and for the foundation to do more for social justice. This was in response to the murder of George Floyd. The poets wanted the foundation to show more support for equality and justice.
Awards and Special Honors
Angel Nafis has received several important awards:
- She won the Ruth Lilly and Dorothy Sargent Rosenberg Poetry Fellowship in 2016. This is a big award from the Poetry Foundation.
- She also received a Creative Writing fellowship from the NEA.
