Photo: Carl Stevens/WBZ NewsRadio
BOSTON (WBZ NewsRadio) — Boston Public Library’s central branch hosted a posthumous book launch and reading Tuesday night paying tribute to Danielle Legros Georges, who served as Boston’s second poet laureate.
Georges’ book of poetry is titled "Acts of Resistance to New England Slavery by Africans Themselves in New England," and is out now.
“Her poetry inspired many. She also called us to account for history and what type of society we want to live in going forward,” said David Leonard, president of BPL.
Georges died from cancer in February at the age of 60.
Along with serving as the city’s poet laureate from 2015 to 2019, she also led the MFA in Creative Writing Program at Lesley University.
“She was a mentor to so many young poets,” said Georges’ partner Tom Laughlin. “She was translating, editing, doing so much in so many different ways to help others’ voices come forward.”
Georges received a fellowship from the American Antiquarian Society to conduct research for her book in 2023. The society describes the book as a series of poems about Black self-determinism in the context of northern slavery.
As people gathered to remember Georges at the event, Leonard said poetry can help with the loss.
“I think at times like these we can turn to poetry to express what we’re feeling in a way perhaps that words just spoken or prose do not quite capture,” Leonard said. “Danielle did that in many, many ways.”
WBZ’s Carl Stevens (@CarlWBZ) reports.