PBS News Hour

AMNA NAWAZ: Kwame Alexander, an award-winning# author and producer, has just released## his latest work.

It's an anthology by# Black poets called "This Is the Honey."

I spoke to him earlier as part of# our arts and culture series, Canvas.

Kwame Alexander, welcome to the "NewsHour."

KWAME ALEXANDER, "This Is the Honey: An Anthology# of Contemporary Black Poets": It's good to## be here.

AMNA NAWAZ: So, this new book is ..

The title of the book comes from a poem# included in here by Mahogany L. Browne.

The first lines of it, which are# so beautiful, the first lines read:## "There is no room on this planet# for anything less than a miracle.## We gather here today to revel in# the rebellion of a silent tongue."

Why did this give you the title of the book?# What did you want to put out into the world?

KWAME ALEXANDER: Well, the idea that,# yes, we deal with drama and trauma,## but there's also triumph.

We deal# with woe, but there's also wonder.

Like, amidst all the divisiveness and# the uncertainty that's happening in## this world, I wanted to give us# something that would uplift us,## that would give us a little bit of that# hope, that would bring us together.

AMNA NAWAZ: How do you pick poems?

How did# you invite people to be a part of this?

KWAME ALEXANDER: I sort of view# this book like you would a day in## your life.

So you wake up in the morning,# the sun is out.

It's promise.

And so this## first section of the book is going to# be poems of hope and promise and joy.

You greet your family, the people who you love,## the people who love you.

So the next section of# the book is going to be love poems.

And then,## of course, you go out into the world and# you're dealing with all the craziness,## and so you're going to have poems# that challenge us, that are obstacles.

And then, next, you're going to sort of# take that lunch break.

Or, in my case,## when I worked in corporate America,# I'd go to the restroom and just sort## of chill a little bit just to get# my bearings and to say a prayer.

KWAME ALEXANDER: So you're# going to have your devotions.

And, of course, the last part of the book is, you# come home.

And it's a long day, and you eat food,## and you share, and you're grateful.

And# so you're going to have praise poems.

So I thought about that as the# metaphor.

And then I just sort## of started looking for poems and poets that fit.

AMNA NAWAZ: There's some incredible work in here.

There's a poem from Warsan Shire,# who's one of my personal favorites.## Ruth Forman has this eight-line poem# in there that is just so powerful.

You## have an original poem in here as well,# right?

It's called "How We Made You."

AMNA NAWAZ: Tell me about that.

KWAME ALEXANDER: Oh.

So, Stephanie, my wife and I were# together -- .. years.

And when the uncoupling happened,# I didn't want my daughter to think that## it was the divorce that defined us or was# the things that didn't go right.

I wanted## to let her know that it was about -- it was# not about the storm, but about the rainbow,## that we love each other, that we are very# good friends and that we built a lot together.

We built a business.

We built a# beautiful daughter.

So I want to## focus on that.

So that poem deals with how# we made you, and it's really all about love.

AMNA NAWAZ: What was it like for you# after she read that poem, your daughter?

KWAME ALEXANDER: Has she read it yet?

AMNA NAWAZ: Has she read# it is the better.. KWAME ALEXANDER: Look, when I wrote# that -- when I wrote that memoir,## "Why Fathers Cry at Night,"# I had it on the counter.

And my kid, she's 15.

She comes in, and she says:## "Dad, we're studying memoir in school now.# How cool would it be if I read your memoir?"

She's like: "I'm not going to do# it, but how cool would it be?"

(LAUGHTER) KWAME ALEXANDER: So I doubt she's read it yet.

AMNA NAWAZ: Speaking of that memoir,# it has been about a year now almost## since it's been out.

That was an# intensely personal blend of poetry## and prose that you put out in that -- the# memoir called "Why Fathers Cry at Night."

All this time later, what's it like# for you to have that out in the world?

KWAME ALEXANDER: That is a great question,## because I have wrestled with realizing# that this book is out in the world still.

KWAME ALEXANDER: Because it's a memoir about# these challenges that I have had dealing with## the fact that, in 2017, my mother passed,# my marriage started sort of breaking down,## and my oldest daughter and I had an argument# that just blew up into an estrangement.

And so all these things happened.

And so writing# the book allowed me to deal with it, to heal from## it, and then to get on a path to sort of figure# it out, which I did.

So now the book is out,## I'm a much better person, but I'm like, oh, the# book is still out, all the stuff I went through.

But, hopefully, it helps people,# it offers some insight and some## inspiration for people who are# dealing with their own things.

AMNA NAWAZ: Kwame, you are nothing if not## prolific.

Your Newbery Award-winning# New York Times bestselling book "The## Crossover" was made into a Disney+# series that won you your first Emmy.

What was that moment like?

(LAUGHTER) KWAME ALEXANDER: What was it like?

Well, somebody asked me, was it a .. no, because it was never a dream.

I wanted to# write good books.

And so the fact that this## book that got rejected by 22 publishers, the# fact that this book, which came out six years,## seven years ago won an Emmy Award for a# TV adaptation, it just speaks to the power## of poetry to me, how it can translate# and transfer across different mediums.

And I think poetry ultimately is# about making us feel better.

And,## hopefully, the TV show did that.# The Emmy certainly did that for me.

AMNA NAWAZ: Well, you have been carrying# that Emmy around everywhere.

I'm going to## show people here a photo of you with the Emmy on# your lap on the flight home.

Tell me about that.

KWAME ALEXANDER: Well, they made me check# the bag.

I wanted to put it in the overhead,## and it didn't fit.

So I said,# well, let me take something out.

And I did.

AMNA NAWAZ: That is a flex.

KWAME ALEXANDER: That's a# flex.

Hey, it didn't fit.

AMNA NAWAZ: All of your work though, all# of your writing, it's really grounded in## who we are as a country, who we# are as a people and where we are.

I remember reading this op-ed that you# wrote for The L.A. Times earlier this## year on MLK Jr. Day.

You wrote about# the first protest you went to back in## 1978 in New York.

You wrote about studying Dr.# King's famous Selma speech with the "How long,## not long" call and response.

And you said# that there was hope embedded in those words.

You wrote this: "In the war room of our red,## white and weary blues, we become pioneers# in this renewal by awakening our conscious,## summoning our courage, then treading the# stony road through a tunnel of hope."

Where do you find that hope today?

KWAME ALEXANDER: You know, I still# find it in words.

I still find a## world of possibility in language and literature.

I think, when a child sees themselves in a book,## the book is a mirror.

It shows them who they# are and what they're capable of and gives## them some sort of experiences outside of what# we're thinking.

When you show a child a book,## a book can be a window, and it can show# a kid someone else or another community.

I think, ultimately, these words can connect# us to ourselves and to each other and allow## us to become better human beings because# we're empathetic and we're connected.

So,## for me, that's where the hope# comes from.

It comes through## the power of words to make us imagine# a better world or a different world.

AMNA NAWAZ: The book is "This Is the# Honey."

The author is Kwame Alexander.

Kwame, thank you so much.

Great to see you.

KWAME ALEXANDER: Thank you very much, Amna.