Writer and educator Biankah Bailey, 38, hails from Kingston, Jamaica, and came to Japan in 2007. Along with artist and educator Marcellus Nealy, she has compiled and edited ¡°Umoja, The Black Diaspora Edition,¡± a special issue of the ¡°Excursions¡± publication.
1. When did you get into poetry? The first poem I wrote was for a class in high school. I loved how shutting out the world to write made me feel, and I have been doing it since then.
2. Was the ¡°Umoja¡± anthology your idea? It was the idea of one of Tokyo Poetry Journal¡¯s founding editors, Jeffrey Johnson. He tapped Marcellus Nealy to put it together, and then Marcellus brought me on board.
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