Tongo Eisen-Martin is an American poet and activist. [1] He is the current poet laureate of San Francisco, California. [2] [3]
Tongo Eisen-Martin was born in 1980[ citation needed] in San Francisco, California [4] to a revolutionary mother [5] Arlene Eisen. [6] [7] His parents named him after Josiah Tongogara. [8] Muralist Miranda Bergman is his godmother. [7] He has a younger brother named Biko, [6] and they both attended Meadows-Livingstone school in San Francisco as children. [9] [6] He earned a bachelor's and master's degree in African-American Studies, [10] all from Columbia University [11] [12] where he taught at the Institute for Research in African-American Studies, [4] creating the 2012 curriculum We Charge Genocide Again! [2] He has also taught at detention centers, including San Quentin and Rikers Island. [7] He is the co-founder of Black Freighter Press. [3]
Eisen-Martin's 2017 book Heaven Is All Goodbyes published by City Lights won a PEN Oakland Award, [10] the 2018 American Book Award, [4] 2018 California Book Award, [13] and 2018 National California Booksellers Association Poetry Book of the Year. [4] His 2020 title Blood on the Fog published by City Lights was named a Best Poetry Book of 2021 by Elisa Gabbert of the New York Times. [14] [15]
Tongo Eisen-Martin is an American poet and activist. [1] He is the current poet laureate of San Francisco, California. [2] [3]
Tongo Eisen-Martin was born in 1980[ citation needed] in San Francisco, California [4] to a revolutionary mother [5] Arlene Eisen. [6] [7] His parents named him after Josiah Tongogara. [8] Muralist Miranda Bergman is his godmother. [7] He has a younger brother named Biko, [6] and they both attended Meadows-Livingstone school in San Francisco as children. [9] [6] He earned a bachelor's and master's degree in African-American Studies, [10] all from Columbia University [11] [12] where he taught at the Institute for Research in African-American Studies, [4] creating the 2012 curriculum We Charge Genocide Again! [2] He has also taught at detention centers, including San Quentin and Rikers Island. [7] He is the co-founder of Black Freighter Press. [3]
Eisen-Martin's 2017 book Heaven Is All Goodbyes published by City Lights won a PEN Oakland Award, [10] the 2018 American Book Award, [4] 2018 California Book Award, [13] and 2018 National California Booksellers Association Poetry Book of the Year. [4] His 2020 title Blood on the Fog published by City Lights was named a Best Poetry Book of 2021 by Elisa Gabbert of the New York Times. [14] [15]