FEATURES
Brian Gilmore; Author of We Didn’t Know Any Gangsters (Third Collection of his poetry); MSU Professor of Law since 2010
When I got to college that’s when I wanted to write poetry.
"I have always been interested in words, but really it was this teacher who said nice things about my writing and said it might be something I want to try. That's why I do what I do."
“When I got done with this advocacy work, I realized I didn’t want to just write, but I wanted to be a citizen. I wanted to help out and actually try to make change and involve myself in this process.”
“Music is really important for what I do,” he said. “Poets always say poetry is like music itself. We say the words are on the page and on the stage.”
"I really have a great love for words," he said. "It’s hard to say what’s the best about writing other than knowing that people saw your work and appreciate your dedication to art; there’s a lot to say about that."
“The message is the whole notion of loss of community. To a certain degree, I feel like a lot of cities have lost that sense of community where you had a family, but your larger family was within the neighborhood.”
New book is more of a personal collection than my first two...my first book was more political and cultural related and the second book was about Jazz, Duke Ellington band
This is more personal about growing up, my parents lives, neighborhood etc.
“There’s something about growing up in D.C. It was a lot of fun, but it was also very mischievous kind of living.
I think all writing is personal, there’s just degrees to it. I started this book many years ago and then got interrupted and started writing some other stuff (fiction, nonfiction, did some freelance journalism)
Always said I would come back to it and finish it
Went to Frostburg State College
In the first book....I became a student activist; a big issue in my time was Nelson Mandela and South Africa; really big issues when I was in college, and a lot of us were involved in that
It was an experience that I think shaped me in a lot of ways...being from DC from the urban setting
I’ve been influenced by a lot of different things like music (jazz and African American music forms)
It’s interesting because poetry is different...publishing houses don’t publish that much poetry (go through the small presses)
Publishers might extend you an invitation...sent manuscript to this place in Maryland (knew someone there)
Manuscript had been rejected a few times...this was the last shot! “I did say that”....Wayne State had strong interest in it but then at the last second they passed on it
It must have been rejected about a dozen times by different contests and presses...mostly small presses
I was just going to move on and do different writing projects
Progressive Media Project...write on any topic you want and they take it if they want...election, abortion, anything
Doing that for about 11 years...out of Wisconsin, affiliated with the Progressive magazine (more drawn to the historical/cultural pieces, things like that...did a piece on Maya Angelou, poverty, etc.)
Used to do a lot of freelance journalism, wrote for the progressive, wrote for the Washington Post a few times, used to review new books for the Post, write for small weeklies in D.C.
My law comes out of my student activism. I went towards law because of my desire to be an advocate on issues and it took off from there.
Got to MSU in 2010...Howard University studying law and got recruited out here
His first book is more cultural and politics of music and society
Always been influenced by music...his brother has the most influence (musician), parents listened to a lot of jazz (Duke Ellington and Miles Davis), my brother listened to a lot of funk, R&B soul music, in the city.... it was a big deal
Still doing some poetry every now and then...get invited to talk at law schools to talk about issues
Go back to DC he goes to talk to class...American University talking to students interested in writing
Social and political policy work right now, as well as short stories.... there’s always the “next” project and you are always a little bit ahead of yourself
The big thing was divestment movement...trying to get universities to divest their assets from South African government and stop dealing with SA...students organized around that...long tradition of student activism
This is what really drove me to law school, I wanted to be able to write, but also be involved