Flirting

(Red Dirt Publishing/Lulu) 978-0-9748-1433-9

Flirting is Tim'm T. West's poignant follow-up to Red Dirt Revival: a poetic memoir in six breaths. Another poetic memoir, expressed mostly through poetry (though also prose and essay), West flirts with memory, girls, boys, danger, politics, and romance". Known for his brave testimonials, West writes in the tradition of poets like Audre Lorde, Essex Hemphill, and Pablo Neruda who all seize language as a tool reflecting social change while bridging political and erotic landscapes. While rooted in his experiences as black, gay-identified poet, emcee, activist, and educator, Flirting is an invitation to (re)connect others to that optimistic, joyful space where, even between rocks and hard places, hope springs eternal. An emcee and Spoken Word artist he is regarded as a poet who comfortably navigates language that respects the formal conventions of his training, while honoring rhythm and lexicon of a Hip Hop generation. Beyond word play, there is profound meaning and possibility in Flirting.

Reviews:

• GBM magazine by David Jones
• GBM magazine by Leo Shelton

Please click here to purchase your copy of FLIRTING.

Bare: Notes From A Porchdweller

Tim'm West's new chapbook BARE contains more of the thoughtful dialogue on spaces and self begun with Red Dirt Revival but is contextualized by many of his new experiences since moving from his "second home" in Oakland to Washington D.C. Funny, sexy, moving and immediate, BARE evidences West's motivation to continually re invent and recontextualize the self as a means of creating fresh spaces for our truth telling.

Reviews:

• GBM magazine by David Jones

Please click here to purchase your copy of BARE: NOTES FROM A PORCHDWELLER.

Red Dirt Revival: A Poetic Memoir In Six Breaths

(Poz'trophy): 0-9726584-0-8

Courage of form, courage of content. Sensuous thinking. Radical motion. Tim'm T. West carries forward Audre Lorde's practice of poetry as the "light by which we scrutinize our lives." With its embrace-critique of origins and its bravura leap from academic precincts into vernactular revelations, this book renews my hope for our collective survival."

— Jan Clausen, author of Apples and Oranges: My Journey Through Sexual Identity

Reviews:

• Praise for Red Dirt Revival (PDF)