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Donika Kelly

@donikakelly.bsky.social

Author of Bestiary and The Renunciations and The Natural Order of Things | Graywolf Press | Kate Tufts | Hurston/Wright | Anisfield-Wolf |NEA | Iowa English | she/her/dr.

611 Followers  |  77 Following  |  13 Posts  |  Joined: 20.11.2024
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Posts by Donika Kelly (@donikakelly.bsky.social)

Grant β€” Artists and Mothers

"Eligible to New York City-based artists with children under the age of three, awardees will receive a grant for $25,000 to be used for childcare expenses with the provider of their choice." www.artistsandmothers.org/grant - Applications due by Jan 2.

01.12.2025 19:41 β€” πŸ‘ 241    πŸ” 146    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0
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Happy December, y'all!!

Gotta kick off the πŸŽ„ season right!!!

Take it away, DMX!!

01.12.2025 14:01 β€” πŸ‘ 465    πŸ” 328    πŸ’¬ 5    πŸ“Œ 41
Preview
a woman in a red dress is holding a microphone with her arms outstretched and screaming . Alt: a woman in a red dress is holding a microphone with her arms outstretched and screaming β€œSAGITTARIUS SEASON.”

YOU KNOW WTF TIME IT IS!!!!♐️♐️♐️♐️♐️♐️

22.11.2025 16:54 β€” πŸ‘ 5    πŸ” 4    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 2
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Tonight! Don't miss this reading by Tiana Clark and Donika Kelly at 7PM at Black Pearl Books!

Free RSVP: secure.qgiv.com/for/torlitart/event/tianaclarkanddonikakelly/

06.11.2025 10:50 β€” πŸ‘ 1    πŸ” 1    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0
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Join us tonight at 7 pm for a double feature reading by @melissafebos.bsky.social and @donikakelly.bsky.social!

05.11.2025 19:29 β€” πŸ‘ 11    πŸ” 5    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0
OMAR SAKR

Walking to day-care in the genocide
The primary selling point of a pram 
Has never been articulated by an ad.
My son yells out his discoveries - 
Tree, rock, motorbike, cloud, a bee!
I walk behind him unseen, grief-struck 
And let the tears come without fear 
That my weeping will drive him 
To worry. O holy carriage, hold fast 
His wonder, and my wet confession 
Of this, a father's sole reprieve.

OMAR SAKR Walking to day-care in the genocide The primary selling point of a pram Has never been articulated by an ad. My son yells out his discoveries - Tree, rock, motorbike, cloud, a bee! I walk behind him unseen, grief-struck And let the tears come without fear That my weeping will drive him To worry. O holy carriage, hold fast His wonder, and my wet confession Of this, a father's sole reprieve.

A poem I wrote some months ago showed up at my door today in the first issue of the relaunched Southerly magazine.

04.11.2025 06:00 β€” πŸ‘ 230    πŸ” 44    πŸ’¬ 9    πŸ“Œ 3
The book cover for Derrick Austin's third book of poetry, This Elegance. A detail from a weaving by Diedrick Brackens. A kneeling silhouette poses against a yellow moon. The silhouette holds a long red candle in one hand and balances one small red candle on his head and two small candles on his other arm and one yellow candle on the heel of his foot.

The book cover for Derrick Austin's third book of poetry, This Elegance. A detail from a weaving by Diedrick Brackens. A kneeling silhouette poses against a yellow moon. The silhouette holds a long red candle in one hand and balances one small red candle on his head and two small candles on his other arm and one yellow candle on the heel of his foot.

My third book, This Elegance, is out from @boa-editions.bsky.social in May 2026.

Cover design by Sandy Knight with art by Diedrick Brackens.

Available to preorder now πŸ™πŸΏ

23.10.2025 22:14 β€” πŸ‘ 33    πŸ” 8    πŸ’¬ 4    πŸ“Œ 3
Preview
The Natural Order of Things: Poems Poems

πŸŒˆπŸ“š

πŸ“– The Natural Order of Things: Poems

by Donika Kelly
@donikakelly.bsky.social

an extraordinary and unexpected book of finding happiness

Affiliate Link
bookshop.org/a/100590/978...

#booksky #queerbooks #poetry

04.11.2025 02:29 β€” πŸ‘ 5    πŸ” 1    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0
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Tomorrow on the show, I'll be talking w poet Donika Kelly about her new collection, THE NATURAL ORDER OF THINGS, an evocative cycle of poems that have much to do w happiness and love and embodiment, & what it's like to experience these sorts of things on the other side of a darkness.

Stay tuned...

01.11.2025 20:02 β€” πŸ‘ 9    πŸ” 1    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 1
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I love how Rep. Joe Neguse reframed this question.

31.10.2025 08:19 β€” πŸ‘ 17356    πŸ” 7005    πŸ’¬ 713    πŸ“Œ 1218

they just did this to millennials saying the reason we couldn't afford homes is because of coffee.

31.10.2025 15:52 β€” πŸ‘ 12    πŸ” 6    πŸ’¬ 3    πŸ“Œ 0
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Join us for An Evening with Tiana Clark and Donika Kelly at Black Pearl Books!

Thursday, Nov. 6th
7:00 P.M.
Black Pearl Books
7112 Burnet Rd, Austin, TX 78757

RSVP: secure.qgiv.com/for/torlitart/event/tianaclarkanddonikakelly/

25.10.2025 18:47 β€” πŸ‘ 1    πŸ” 1    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0
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#ClipOfTheDay: β€œI was little and lost / the season I learned to be still...” In this Charis Circle event, Donika Kelly reads poems from her new collection, The Natural Order of Things (Graywolf Press), and speaks with Jericho Brown about family, home, and her writing process. at.pw.org/KellyCharis

28.10.2025 00:01 β€” πŸ‘ 5    πŸ” 2    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0
Support Jamaica

Sharing for awareness: For those able and willing to help, the Embassy of Jamaica in DC is coordinating disaster relief in the U.S.

They have asked folks to reach out to them at disasterresponse@jamaicaembassy.org to coordinate support.

The government has info on donations supportjamaica.gov.jm

28.10.2025 17:17 β€” πŸ‘ 1037    πŸ” 1051    πŸ’¬ 7    πŸ“Œ 26
I'm sitting in the sun, sunnies on, smugly awaiting a burrito.

I'm sitting in the sun, sunnies on, smugly awaiting a burrito.

Awaiting a pre-reading burrito. See you at Skylight Books at 7!

27.10.2025 23:33 β€” πŸ‘ 3    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 2    πŸ“Œ 0
I'm standing in the center of the photo reading from my book at a mic. On either side of me are bookshelves, and my book is on a stand on the left side of the image.

I'm standing in the center of the photo reading from my book at a mic. On either side of me are bookshelves, and my book is on a stand on the left side of the image.

22.10.2025 02:46 β€” πŸ‘ 1    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0

This was such a fantastic event! If you're in Boston, please check out Just Book-ish, a lovely Black queer bookstore!

22.10.2025 01:07 β€” πŸ‘ 2    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 1    πŸ“Œ 0
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Save the Date!

November 6 at 7pm
Black Pearl Books

Join us for a special evening at Black Pearl Books featuring Tiana Clark, author of Scortch Earth, and Donika Kelly, author of The Natural Order of Things!

RSVP: secure.qgiv.com/for/torlitar...

21.10.2025 19:41 β€” πŸ‘ 2    πŸ” 1    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0
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I'll be in Dorchester, Mass this Tuesday at Just Book-ish at 6:30-8pm. RSVP at www.justbook-ish.com.

18.10.2025 16:03 β€” πŸ‘ 5    πŸ” 1    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 1
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#ClipOfTheDay: β€œSo much has happened / that I would never have known / I could remember.” In this Silo City Reading Series video, Donika Kelly reads her poem β€œSuicide Watch: Spring,” which appears in her third poetry collection, The Natural Order of Things (Graywolf Press). at.pw.org/SiloCityKelly

16.10.2025 00:00 β€” πŸ‘ 4    πŸ” 1    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 1
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In her latest poetry collection, The Natural Order of Things, out now from @graywolfpress.bsky.social, Donika Kelly (@donikakelly.bsky.social) celebrates joy as a simple yet radical means of resisting despair. β€œI have a high capacity for sensitivity to the sublime.” Read more: at.pw.org/DonikaKelly

15.10.2025 22:00 β€” πŸ‘ 7    πŸ” 3    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0
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Announcing our Nov/Dec issue! πŸŽ‰ Inside you’ll find a profile of poet Donika Kelly, author of The Natural Order of Things; our tenth annual 5 Over 50 debut author feature; a craft essay in appreciation of the longer short story; and the case for collective resistance to AI. More: at.pw.org/NovDec2025

15.10.2025 16:26 β€” πŸ‘ 12    πŸ” 5    πŸ’¬ 1    πŸ“Œ 1

Tonight!

14.10.2025 13:09 β€” πŸ‘ 1    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 1    πŸ“Œ 0
The Natural Order of Things: Donika Kelly in Conversation with Jericho Brown Register now for The Natural Order of Things: Donika Kelly in Conversation with Jericho Brown on crowdcast, scheduled to go live on October 14, 2025, 07:30 PM EDT.

The book tour continues! Tomorrow night at 7:30 eastern, I'll be in conversation with Jericho Brown at Charis Books. Register for the livestream here: www.crowdcast.io/c/the-natura...

13.10.2025 16:17 β€” πŸ‘ 3    πŸ” 1    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 1
POETRY FOUNDATION
Beginning

BY JAMES WRIGHT

The moon drops one or two feathers into the
field.
The dark wheat listens.
Be still.
Now.
There they are, the moon's young, trying Their wings.
Between trees, a slender woman lifts up the lovely
shadow
Of her face, and now she steps into the air, now she
is gone
Wholly, into the air.
I stand alone by an elder tree, I do not dare breathe
Or move.
I listen.
The wheat leans back toward its own darkness, And I lean toward mine.

POETRY FOUNDATION Beginning BY JAMES WRIGHT The moon drops one or two feathers into the field. The dark wheat listens. Be still. Now. There they are, the moon's young, trying Their wings. Between trees, a slender woman lifts up the lovely shadow Of her face, and now she steps into the air, now she is gone Wholly, into the air. I stand alone by an elder tree, I do not dare breathe Or move. I listen. The wheat leans back toward its own darkness, And I lean toward mine.

The moon drops one or two feathers into the
field.
The dark wheat listens.
Be still.
Now.

James Wright

08.10.2025 14:31 β€” πŸ‘ 10    πŸ” 3    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0

From BOMB’s Fall 2025 Issue, @donikakelly.bsky.social’s poems from THE NATURAL ORDER OF THINGS (graywolfpress.bsky.social) evoke a visceral sense of the intimate. Read an excerpt.

tinyurl.com/2c8kpjew

08.10.2025 14:09 β€” πŸ‘ 2    πŸ” 1    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0
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Join us tonight at 7 pm for a reading at the Iowa City Public Library with Donika Kelly!

07.10.2025 14:28 β€” πŸ‘ 5    πŸ” 1    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0
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Congratulations to Torch Features Patricia Smith and Tiana Clark, and all of the finalists longlisted for the National Book Award in Poetry!

See Tiana Clark and Donika Kelly at the Torch events at the Texas Book Festival in November!

Details at TorchLiteraryArts.org

07.10.2025 16:21 β€” πŸ‘ 5    πŸ” 3    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0

please go look at the moon.

05.10.2025 23:30 β€” πŸ‘ 10    πŸ” 2    πŸ’¬ 1    πŸ“Œ 1

We can't wait to host Donika Kelly as she launches her wonderful new collection, "The Natural Order of Things"!

03.10.2025 18:32 β€” πŸ‘ 2    πŸ” 1    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0