{*Clears Throat Aggressively*}
“Kinard’s poems form an intricate cosmology
that transcends the personal to reflect
on a close-knit, complex community.”
☆ Starred review in publishers weeklY ☆
The Debut Poetry Collection of Willie Lee Kinard III
Orders of Service
A Fugue
Winner of the 2022 Alice James Award
AVAIlable Where books are sold
Praise for Orders of Service
“Each line puts a phrase from the previous line in a different context; swift upturnings and interchanging images… are the spine of Kinard’s complex, stunning, and unexpected image systems.”
—Daniella Toosie-Watson, Cincinnati Review
“My first words were ‘Whoomp! there it is…’ ”
Excerpt from “Willie Lee Kinard III Vs. The Choir”
VS The Podcast with Brittany Rogers & Ajanaé Dawkins
“In the beginning, I would not call me pious; I would call me country…”
Excerpt from “Rhapsody, or Revelation, or Cerberus to the Fireflies”
Featured in Issue 45 of The Adroit Journal
About
Photo credits: Théo Ceridwen, Justin Phillip Reed, Johnny Lee Chapman III & Lucille B. Kinard.
WILLIE LEE KINARD III (he/they) is a poet, designer, educator & musician forged in Newberry, South Carolina. The Author of the poetry collection Orders of Service: A Fugue, winner of the 2022 Alice James Award, published by Alice James Books in November 2023, he holds An M.F.A. in Creative Writing-Poetry from the University of Pittsburgh & a B.F.A. in Graphic Design from the University of South Carolina. a 2023 Ruth Lilly & Dorothy Sargent Rosenberg Poetry Fellow & Graduate Fellow of The Watering Hole, their musings include Gospel surrealism, Black romance & superstition.
With written work appearances in Oversound, Obsidian, Poem-a-Day, Boston Review & elsewhere, he is the Winner of POETRY (Magazine)’s 2021 J. Howard & Barbara M. J. Wood Prize & a Pushcart Prize Nominee. an avid believer in evening thunderstorms & loose-leaf tea, Kinard teaches English at the University of South Carolina.
C.V. Available upon request.*
Books
Orders of Service, Winner of the 2022 Alice James Award, Full-Length (Alice James Books, forthcoming November 2023) [Buy It now!]
chroma., mixtape-chapbook (self-published, April 2016)
Writing & Media
POETRY
The Adroit Journal | “Rhapsody, or Revelation, or Cerberus to the Fireflies” (April 2023)
Poem-A-Day | “Aubade: Nocturne” (February 9, 2023)
Boston review | “The Choir, or Chatteracks” & 1 MORE (July 2022)
Foglifter, Volume 7, Issue 1 | “B{u/i}tter Pecan Apocrypha,” Print (may 2022)
The Adroit Journal | “Vocal Pedagogy” & 2 More (April 2022)
Poetry Daily | “What We Wayward Do” (Reprint) (November 2021)
pinwheel Journal, Issue 19 | “Offering” (August 2021)
POETRY | “A Tangle of Gorgons“ & “Bird in the Rain,“ Print (January 2021)
Voicemail Poems | “Winged Victory of Samothrace“ (Reprint) (October 2020)
Slush Pile Magazine | “Throw Honey to the Wind & Watch Bees Come Back“ & 1 More (February 2020)
WILDNESS, Issue 20 | “Self-Portrait Where I Am the Cricket“ & “Daniel 7/To Be Feral“ (August 2019)
Crab Fat Magazine | “Postcard“ (November 2018)
Shade literary arts (Formerly the Shade Journal), Issue 2 | “Saudade“ (April 2017)
articles & EDITORIAL
Lolwe | Issue 5 (Guest Editor) (June 2022)
The RUMPUS | “LIGHTNING RODS and LINE BREAKS: The malevolent volume by Justin Phillip Reed” (September 2021)
For the Scribes | The Fresh Ink Anthology (co-editor) (July 2017)
For the Scribes | “Weekend Wonders: Stargazing with Alysia Nicole Harris“ (October 2016)
media & performances
CAAPP & August Wilson House | Feeling the Spirit in the Dark Performance series, Collaboration with Shikeith & Jaylen T. Strong, Pittsburgh, pa (January 2021)
[in brackets] PodcasT | Interview with Joshua Bennett, Pittsburgh, PA (May 2019)
Soda City Story Slam | “Gratitude,” Columbia, SC (June 2016)
Souls 'N Substance | “Lit,” Columbia, SC (December 2014)
Press & INTERVIEWS
Charleston City Paper | “Piccolo embraces vulnerability, expression with Sundown Poetry Series” (June 2023)
The Poetry Question: tpq20 Podcast | “S5epE15: Willie Lee Kinard III” (may 2023)
Shade literary arts | “2023 Forthcoming Poetry Books by Queer People of Color” (January 2023)
All You Do Is Talk Podcast | “Poetry, Music & Film with Willie Lee Kinard III” (April 2022)
Richland Library | “Artist Spotlight: Willie Kinard III” (June 2021)
COLORLINES | “National Poetry Month 2021: 5 Queer Poets Who Create Outside the Margins” (April 2021)
OTHER MUSINGS
For the scribes, writers’ wellness platform (Est. September 2015)
Catch Willie Outside
If you’d like to bring Willie to a venue near you, please use the contact form below.
March 21 | Columbia, SC | 6:30PM EST, Doors Open at 6:00PM
A Metta Prayer: A film Screening & Conversation with Jacolby Satterwhite, Chaz Evans & Michaela Pilar Brown @ the Columbia Museum of Art!
Columbia Museum of Art
1515 Main St, Columbia, SC 29201
March 29 | Columbia, SC | 3:00pM-4:00PM EST
The Columbia Poet Laureate Presents… With Russell Earle, Jr. & Kristine Hartvigsen @ Read Freely Fest!
Hampton Plaza Stage, Richland Library
1431 Assembly St, Columbia, SC 29201
What's good?
*Now booking design, Photography & Manuscript clients for Winter & Spring 2025*
For bookings regarding readings & workshops; manuscript & editorial services; music or songwriting consultation; Design & Website work, or To send willie a personal note, Please use the form below.