Q&A: Karisma Price on poetry, place and the Writing Freedom Fellowship

Karisma Price, assistant professor of English in the School of Liberal Arts, has been selected for the inaugural cohort of Writing Freedom Fellows, an initiative supported by the Mellon Foundation and Haymarket Books.

Price, author of the poetry collection "I'm Always So Serious" and recipient of the 2025 Whiting Award in Poetry, is currently working on her second collection, "The New Book of Knowledge."

In this Q&A, Price discusses what the fellowship means to her, the themes shaping her current work and the role poetry can play in helping readers better understand the experiences of others. The interview has been edited for length and clarity.

What does receiving this fellowship mean to you?

Price: This fellowship acknowledges the hard work I have been doing and shows me that, while much of my writing is done in solitude, I am making an impact in my local community and in communities around the country.

I use my poetry to explore the inner workings of family - my own as well as families in myth and history. I focus on my New Orleans upbringing and how the South informs my view of the world, as well as kinship, loss, social issues, hurricane anxiety and the anxieties that can follow the death of a parent.

In my first collection, "I'm Always So Serious," I meditated on these themes and the lived experiences of Black New Orleanians, including many in my family whose experiences are often dismissed because they do not have college degrees.

This fellowship also connects me with others in my cohort who have both lived and learned experiences regarding the threats to freedom, education and safety affecting us all.

How will the fellowship support your current creative work?

Price: The ethos that drives my poetry is what I call "responsible empathy." I begin every poem with research to represent people and events in a holistic manner and to transcribe the emotional truth of my subjects.

I believe my work shows the power and necessity of Black kinship, the realities of living in a family affected by Hurricane Katrina and having a parent who was incarcerated during my youth. I believe my responsibility as a writer is to use my upbringing and lived experience to inform current and future generations about the reality of what it is like to live in a city affected by climate change and gentrification and give an honest look at Black life in the South.

What role can poetry play in helping people understand lived experiences and social issues?

Price: I am someone who likes to look up references I do not know when I come across them in poetry. So much research can be required to accurately write even a stanza or a single line.

Because of that, I believe poetry offers readers opportunities for exploration and a chance to step into another person's shoes. Poetry is a hybrid genre that allows for tangential references, homages and information without being preachy.

If a person approaches a poem with empathy and a willingness to learn, I believe they will take what a writer has to say seriously. I hope they will be inspired to learn more about the topic and engage with people whose lived experiences differ from their own.