Our Time Press Reviews VA Poet Laureate Latorial Faison's Award-winning Books

RICHMOND, Va. - Aug. 9, 2026 - PRLog -- RICHMOND, VA--Virginia Poet Laureate, Dr. Latorial Faison, and two of her recent poetry collections, Nursery Rhymes in Black and Blood at the Root, are the subject of a new review published by Our Time Press.

Written by Dr. Brenda M. Greene, Professor Emerita and Founder and Executive Director Emerita of the Center for Black Literature at Medgar Evers College, CUNY, the August 7 review examines Faison's poetry through the interconnected lenses of Black history, family, Southern culture, memory, race, resilience, grief, and witness.

Greene considers Nursery Rhymes in Black (University of Alaska Press, 2025) alongside Blood at the Root (Finishing Line Press, 2025), illuminating the literary and cultural lineage connecting the two collections.

In Nursery Rhymes in Black, Faison reimagines the nursery-rhyme tradition as a vehicle for preserving Black Southern memory, family histories, and the voices of mothers and grandmothers. In Blood at the Root, she turns toward the historic and continuing realities of racism, racial violence, grief, and survival in America.

Faison's Nursery Rhymes in Black won the 2023 Permafrost Poetry Book Prize and was published by the University of Alaska Press in 2025. Her latest collection, Blood at the Root, was published by Finishing Line Press in 2025.

In July 2026, Governor Abigail Spanberger appointed Faison Poet Laureate of Virginia following her nomination by the Poetry Society of Virginia. Her laureate initiative centers culture, hope, legacy, and lineage, positioning poetry as both a civic practice and cultural archive.

A native of rural Southampton County, Virginia, Faison is an award-winning poet, author, educator, and scholar. She serves as Assistant Professor of English and Chair of the Department of Languages and Literature at Virginia State University. Her writing explores Black history and culture, Southern identity, family, faith, memory, race, womanhood, freedom, and justice.

Read Book Review for Latorial Faison's Nursery Rhymes in Black and Blood at the Root"
By Dr. Brenda M. Greene | Our Time Press | August 7, 2026
https://ourtimepress.com/book-review-latorial-faisons-nur...

Dr. Latorial Faison, Poet Laureate of Virginia, is the author of more than a dozen books and poetry collections, including Nursery Rhymes in Black, Blood at the Root, Mother to Son, and the 28 Days of Poetry Celebrating Black History trilogy. Her work uses poetry as a vehicle for cultural preservation, education, remembrance, healing, and human connection.

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