Atlanta, Georgia
100W Writing Studio
W.J. Lofton began writing his first collection of poems while deployed as a U.S. soldier in Afghanistan. Since then, he has used poetry as a means of liberation and self-illumination. His writing practice shows influences from James Baldwin, bell hooks, Toni Morrison, Ross Gaye, and Jericho Brown. Rooted in queer spirituality and Audrey Lorde’s commitment to pleasure, his work is an active divestment from both state-sanctioned and intergenerational violence: “Some violence isn’t malicious, just selfish. I’m trying to understand [through writing,]” says the poet. Lofton’s poems seek after communion and community, stretching the limits of our empathy and daring us to regard one another and ourselves.
Residency Focus: “Poems allow me to connect with people and with space.” Lofton identifies the poetic within overheard conversations with residents and local Corsicanans and incorporates them into established poetic forms: golden shovels, sestinas, and villanelles. The forms become spaces, rooms, in which the words we speak aloud and the silences between them echo with new meanings.