Audre Lorde, June Jordan, and a Homemade Field of Love

Alexis Pauline Gumbs will offer an ecofeminist exploration into how the works of Black feminist poets Audre Lorde and June Jordan can speak to our current climate crisis. She is one of the first researchers to visit the archival papers of Audre Lorde at Spelman College and of June Jordan at Radcliffe’s Schlesinger Library and the author of the forthcoming Survival is a Promise: The Eternal Life of Audre Lorde and articles such as "June Jordan Solves the Energy Crisis." Alexis Pauline Gumbs is a queer Black troublemaker, Black feminist love evangelist, and a groundbreaking force in the realms of activism, academia, and art. As the founder of Brilliance Remastered, she fosters a community of intellectuals and artists rooted in marginalized narratives, challenging traditional norms. Gumbs, along with primary collaborator Sangodare, has steered the Mobile Homecoming Project, an experiential archive amplifying Black LGBTQ brilliance, earning accolades such as the "Pride of Anguilla" at the Anguilla Literary Festival. Her prolific career spans from co-editing the influential Revolutionary Mothering: Love on the Front Lines (PM Press, 2016) to her latest book, Undrowned: Black Feminist Lessons from Marine Mammals (AK Press, 2020), which secured the 2022 Whiting Award in Nonfiction. A 2023 Windham-Campbell Prize Winner in Poetry, Gumbs has been recognized on lists such as UTNE Readers 50 Visionaries and the Bitch 50 List. Her global impact extends to 143 countries through her media-making and participatory digital education initiatives. As a National Endowment of the Arts Creative Writing Fellow, she is currently immersed in her forthcoming book, Survival is a Promise: The Eternal Life of Audre Lorde, a testament to her unwavering commitment to intersectional scholarship, creative expression, and ecofeminism.