Home More News DANIEL B. SUMMERHILL

You may have seen Daniel B. Summerhill in the media. Summerhill, a CSUMB assistant professor of poetry/social action, was selected as the inaugural poet laureate for Monterey County this year. His first collection Divine, Divine, Divine was published in 2021 and his second Mausoleum of Flowers is to be released early April. His work has had him traveling across the United States and over four continents. We are so happy that he will be at PGPL performing Friday, April 22nd 5:30pm – 7:30pm. No registration required.  

"What language do Black people have or must dig up for themselves to remember who they are, especially in a language that never intended to remember them at all? In Divine, Divine, Divine, Daniel B. Summerhill shows how Black folk make beauty out of tragic circumstances by creating that magic in poems that inhale Black life and exhale its song. Summerhill speaks to the heartbreak and music cohabitating Black consciousness, the nuances of Black identity and the permeation of racial awareness during childhood. This collection is a necessary breath in how Black language evolves, is abandoned and then reclaimed, how it switches codes to aid in our own survival, how it can name us and we can choose how to be named. And ain't that in itself, divine?" -From Divine, Divine, Divine, Inside jacket 

Summerhill is motivated to connect young people to the world of poetry saying, “...they realize they can share their own stories and it doesn’t have to look a certain way. That’s when the excitement happens, when they realize there are so many other possibilities with poetry. Once that happens, I think they understand not only another way to express themselves, but also to make sense of their world, of their struggles and triumphs, their beauties” - Tess Kenny Monterey Herald: March 12, 2022  

ABOUT DANIEL SUMMERHILL: DANIEL B. SUMMERHILL IS ASSISTANT PROFESSOR OF POETRY/SOCIAL ACTION AND COMPOSITION STUDIES AT CALIFORNIA STATE UNIVERSITY MONTEREY BAY. HE HAS PERFORMED IN OVER THIRTY STATES, THE UK, AND WAS INVITED BY THE US EMBASSY TO GUEST LECTURE AND PERFORM IN SOUTH AFRICA. DANIEL HAS EARNED A SHARON OLDS FELLOWSHIP AS WELL AS A FELLOWSHIP FROM THE WATERING HOLE. HIS WORK HAS APPEARED IN COLUMBIA JOURNAL, RUST & MOTH, BUTTON POETRY, ANTI-HEROIN CHIC, THE HELLEBORE, AND OTHERS. HIS WORK HAS EARNED HIM TWO PUSHCART NOMINATIONS AS WELL AS A BEST OF THE NET NOMINATION. HIS DEBUT COLLECTION DIVINE, DIVINE, DIVINE IS AVAILABLE NOW FROM OAKLAND- BASED -NOMADIC PRESS. HIS SOPHOMORE COLLECTION, MAUSOLEUM OF FLOWERS WILL BE PUBLISHED BY CAVANKERRY PRESS IN APRIL 2022. SUMMERHILL HOLDS AN MFA IN CREATIVE WRITING FROM THE SOLSTICE LOW-RESIDENCE MFA PROGRAM OF LASELL COLLEGE (BOSTON). DANIEL IS THE INAUGURAL POET LAUREATE OF MONTEREY COUNTY. From danielsummerhill.com