bio:
isaiah a. hines is a cincophrenicpoet[1] interested broadly in communicative dilemmas of our modern scene. Their practice traverses writing, performance, and rootwork while their research proceeds from a question far more subtle than it first appears: how can I be who I am?[2] And moreover, what does answering this question truthfully and actually require of me, given the complexity of the present cultural-political landscape and its aesthetic, economic and symbolic terrains?
These questions have led to rethinking knotty interplays of technology, colonialism and that which we call the Self. isaiah has since refined their pursuit to focus on libraries and archives as they relate to black personality[3] in its capacity to both frustrate the dominant Western ethical framework and clarify the global configuration of power.
They were born and raised in Burlington, Vermont. isaiah studied film and ethnic studies at Columbia University and Brooklyn College, CUNY before moving to Troy, New York to pursue a doctoral degree in communication and rhetoric at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute.
[1] Kaufman, Bob. Solitudes crowded with loneliness. New Directions, 1965, p. 49.
[2] Jordan, June. Black Studies: Bringing Back the Person. CIVIL WARS, Beacon Press, 1969, p. 46.
[3] Mudimbe, V. Y. The Invention of Africa: Gnosis, Philosophy, and the Order of Knowledge. Indiana University Press, 1988, p. 11.
photograph by leo beasley ii
writing:
2024
- "The butterfly's effect," Obsidian: Literature & Arts in the African Diaspora, Issue 49.1 [forthcoming]
- "thinking with null data," Root Work Journal, Volume 2, Issue 2: Between The Forest + The Trees [forthcoming]
2023
- "seeing xin/gs, or why i write about transparency," FLAT Journal (UCLA)—Issue 03: After Tomorrow [read here]
2022
- null landing (Slope Editions, November 2022) [purchase!]
2021
- artist statement #n [read here]
2020
- engaging black poetics: authors and interns—parts 1 & 2 (Nightboat Books, Summer 2020) [read here & here]
2011
- The Magic Book of Poems, a scrap/chap book (South Burlington: May 2011) [read here]*
2010
- Sky thief (The Burlington Free Press: June 9, 2010) [read here]*
*i've included these works from my childhood just for fun, but also because i think they speak to important aspects of my creative practice, my identity as a writer, idiosyncrasies, et cetera :-)
performance:
2024
- Remembering Reuben Jackson reading/performance: Rajnii Eddins, Toussaint St. Negritude, LN Berthea, and isaiah a. hines - Fletcher Free Library, Burlington, VT
- segue reading series: isaiah a. hines & Elizabeth Robinson - ARTISTS SPACE, 11 Cortlandt Alley & online [watch]
2021
- poetry salon : on fragile ground - 1-54 Forum London 2021 [watch] or [listen]
- talkwalkpoem : multiple locations [listen]
2020
- "(re)surface : a poetics of fish/flesh" - JAGfest 4.0, White River Junction, VT [watch]
sound/image:
2021
- "source myth : a visual poem" [watch]
2020
- "source myth : soundscape" [listen]