Junious ‘Jay’ Ward

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Junious “Jay” Ward is a poet living in Charlotte, NC, and the author of Sing Me a Lesser Wound (Bull City Press). Jay is a National Poetry Slam champion, an Individual World Poetry Slam champion, and Charlotte’s inaugural Poet Laureate. He has attended and/or received support from Breadloaf Writers Conference, Callaloo, The Frost Place, Tin House Winter Workshop, and The Watering Hole, and currently serves as a Program Director for BreatheInk and Vice-Chair for The Watering Hole. His poems can be found in Four Way Review, DIAGRAM, Columbia Journal, The Amistad, Diode Poetry Journal, and elsewhere.

Composition

In his debut full length collection, Junious ‘Jay’ Ward dives deep into the formation of self. Composition interrogates the historical perceptions of Blackness and biracial identity as documented through a Southern Lens. Utilizing a variety of poetic forms, Ward showcases to his readers an innovative approach as he unflinchingly explores the way language, generational trauma, loss, and resilience shape us into who we are, the stories we carry, and what we will inevitably pass on.

Praise for Junious ‘Jay’ Ward

A breath of fresh air and a necessary addition to any poetry lover’s bookshelf.

— Rudy Francisco, author of I’ll Fly Away

Composition looks at identity the way a flipbook looks at an image.

— Michael Mlekoday, author of All Earthly Bodies

Each poem cinematic—a homecoming concert, a government document, a father tending a fire—and utterly unflinching. This collection soars like a beacon, a bird-bodied music, sings ‘a whole bloodline toward a lesser wound.’

— Jody Chan, author of Sick

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Composition

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