Jericho Brown

Jericho Brown (born Nelson Demery III April 14, 1976) is an American poet.

Quotes

• A poem should go beyond what you already know, and if it’s going to go beyond what you already know, a poem might say something that begins to have you question what side you’re on, which, in turn, might begin to have an audience question what side you’re on…
  • On how social and political crises are seeping into American poetry in “JERICHO BROWN in conversation with MICHAEL DUMANIS” in Bennington Review (2018 Oct 27)

• What happens at the beginning of your poem has to—because it’s a poem—be transformed by the end of your poem. So if the triggering moment for the beginning of your poem is a known political moment, I am fine with that, that’s great. But as I’m reading, I expect it to change because that was just the trigger…
  • On how poems might be structured around a political theme in “JERICHO BROWN in conversation with MICHAEL DUMANIS” in Bennington Review (2018 Oct 27)

• It is the hardest thing to take chaos and make order of it. Poetry is a veil in front of a heart beating at a very fast pace.
  • On his poems being likened to powder kegs in “Jericho Brown: ‘Poetry is a veil in front of a heart beating at a fast pace” in The Guardian (2018 Jul 28)

• A metaphor is a sign of desperation when we need another world to describe what we are feeling. Metaphors are about desperation and safety. We call out to metaphor because a metaphor makes us feel safe.
  • On how he employs metaphors in “Jericho Brown: ‘Poetry is a veil in front of a heart beating at a fast pace” in The Guardian (2018 Jul 28)