Magic City Gospel

Authors

Ashley M. Jones, Florida International UniversityFollow

Document Type

Thesis

Degree

Master of Fine Arts (MFA)

Major/Program

Creative Writing

First Advisor's Name

Denise Duhamel

First Advisor's Committee Title

Committee Chair

Second Advisor's Name

Campbell McGrath

Second Advisor's Committee Title

Committee Member

Third Advisor's Name

Donna Aza Weir-Soley

Third Advisor's Committee Title

Committee Member

Keywords

poetry, Alabama, America, African American, religion, Birmingham, feminism, Civil Rights Movement, southern, faith

Date of Defense

3-2-2015

Abstract

Magic City Gospel is a collection of poems that explores themes of race and identity with a special focus on racism in the American South. Many of the poems deal directly with the author’s upbringing in Birmingham, Alabama, the Magic City, and the ways in which the history of that geographical place informs the present. Magic City Gospel confronts race and identity through pop culture, history, and the author’s personal experiences as a black, Alabama-born woman. Magic City Gospel is, in part, influenced by the biting, but softly rendered truth and historical commentary of Lucille Clifton, the laid-back and inventive poetry of Terrance Hayes, the biting and unapologetically feminist poetry of Audre Lorde, and the syncopated, exact, musical poetry of Kevin Young. These and other authors like Tim Siebles, Gwendolyn Brooks, and Major Jackson influence poems as they approach the complicated racial and national identity of the author.

Identifier

FI15032143

Comments

FJORDS REVIEW BLACK AMERICAN EDITION (“nem”)

PLUCK! (“Viewing a KKK Uniform at the Civil Rights Institute”)

VALLEY VOICES NEW YORK SCHOOL SPECIAL EDITION (“Symphony of God – A Hymn to Our Jesus,”

Recommended Citation

Jones, Ashley M., "Magic City Gospel" (2015). FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations. 1931.
https://digitalcommons.fiu.edu/etd/1931