Diannely Antigua is a Dominican American poet and educator, born and raised in Massachusetts. Her debut collection Ugly Music (YesYes Books, 2019) was the winner of the Pamet River Prize and a 2020 Whiting Award. Her second poetry collection Good Monster is forthcoming with Copper Canyon Press in 2024. She received her BA in English from the University of Massachusetts Lowell, where she won the Jack Kerouac Creative Writing Scholarship, and received her MFA at NYU, where she was awarded a Global Research Initiative Fellowship to Florence, Italy. She is the recipient of additional fellowships from CantoMundo, Community of Writers, Fine Arts Work Center Summer Program, and was a finalist for the 2021 Ruth Lilly and Dorothy Sargent Rosenberg Poetry Fellowship. Her work has been nominated for the Pushcart Prize and chosen for TheBest of the Net Anthology. Her poems can be found in Poem-a-Day, Poetry, The American Poetry Review, Washington Square Review, The Adroit Journal, and elsewhere. In 2022, she was proclaimed the 13th Poet Laureate of Portsmouth, NH, the youngest and first person of color to receive the title. In 2023, she was awarded an Academy of American Poets Laureate Fellowship to launch The Bread & Poetry Project, and in 2024, she was awarded an Excellence in Artistry Award from Black Lives Matter New Hampshire. She currently teaches in the MFA Writing Program at the University of New Hampshire as the inaugural Nossrat Yassini Poet in Residence. She hosts the podcast Bread & Poetry which seeks to make poetry accessible to all in a way that nourishes the soul. Diannely has two books of poetry, Ugly Music and the Good Monster . Follow Diannely on Facebook, and Instagram @nellfell13 . Below is a list of her accomplishments as 13th poet laureate of Portsmouth NH.
Podcast
- Launched the podcast Bread & Poetry in Summer 2022
- Released 26 interview episodes and 2 Bonus Slice episodes on Bread & Poetry
- Published The Bread & Poetry Anthology showcasing work inspired by the podcast Bread & Poetry and workshops during her laureateship
- Designed the new Portsmouth Poet Laureate Program logo
Awards
- Awarded the Academy of American Poets Laureate Fellowship–$50,000
- Awarded the Nossrat Yassini Poet in Residence Fellowship at UNH for 2023–2025
- Awarded Black Excellence Award in Artistry from BLM NH in April 2024
Collaborations
- Collaborated with HAVEN on fundraising event Courage Speaks for Sexual Assault Awareness Month April 2023 and 2024
- Named HAVEN official non-profit partner to receive support from the Academy of American Poets Laureate Fellowship–$7,000
- Collaborated with NH PANTHER for two Love & Resistance: Poetry & Conversation event highlighting Black Voices
- Collaborated with NH PANTHER, Vida Cantina, and DJ Mam for one Love & Resistance: Poetry & Conversation event highlighting Latinx Voices and Día de los Muertos
Events
- Performed poetry at BIPOC Fest 2022 and 2023
- Delivered CreativeMornings talk on the theme of Sanctuary in January 2023
- Moderated panels and facilitated workshops at SeaChange Artist Conference at Green Acre in 2022 and 2023
- Gave the Keynote address at the Mass Poetry Intercollegiate Poetry Showcase in April 2024
- Will be delivering TEDx talk May 10, 2024 on the theme of Being Human
Community Outreach
- Launched The Bread & Poetry Project with the support of the Academy of American Poets Laureate Fellowship
- Facilitated 4 free poetry workshops, 3 of which featured guest instructors, all of marginalized identities
- Advocated and for more Hoot Readings with poets of marginalized identities
- Poetry as Method: Roundtable and reading UNH April 2024
- Latras Latinas at Poetry Foundation, Reading and Panel, March 2024
- University of Maine Farmington Reading, March 2024
- Poetry Workshop at Hamilton-Wenham Public Library, February 2024
- AWP Kansas City Panel: Neurodiverse Sounds like Universe, February 2024
- Maine Writers & Publishers Alliance Poetry Workshop January 2024
- Slam Free or Die: Poetry Open Mic and Slam
- Daughters of Latin America Anthology Reading at Water Street Book store, November 2023
- Boston Book Festival, Boston, MA October 2023
- The Poetry of Now: An Evening with Cate Marvin & Diannely Antigua, Portland, ME Fall 2023
- Queer Poetry Workshop with Lezhang Seacoast, Summer 2023
- Silo Series Poetry Reading, Summer 2023
- Wow: Winning Opportunities for Woman Conference, May 2023
- Exeter Litfest, April 2023
- AWP Seattle, Panel: Poetry & Mental Illness, March 2023
- Moderated panel at Black Exellence Conference with BLM Seacoast, February 2023