Please enjoy this overview of Denice Frohman's work. Here you will find biographical information, links to poems and interviews, and writing prompts for you to explore.
Bio
Denice Frohman was born, raised, and lives today in New York City. She is an activist, a poet, a performer, and an educator. Coming from a multi-cultural background (Puerto Rican and Jewish) Frohman identifies as a queer Latina; much of work deals with the intersections of race, gender, and sexuality. Frohman served as a 2014 CantoMundo Fellow, received a National Association of Latino Arts & Cultures grant, won the Women of the World Poetry Slam Championship in 2013, and received a Hispanic Choice Award in the category “Creative Artist of the Year.” She has also completed writing residences at the Millay Colony for the Arts and Blue Mountain Center. Frohman’s work has been featured in ESPNW, The Adroit Journal, The Huffington Post, and many more publications and platforms.
POEMS & PROMPTS
my mom holds her accent like a shotgun,
with two good hands.
her tongue, all brass knuckle
slipping in between her lips
her hips, all laughter and wind clap.
she speaks a sanchocho of spanish and english,
pushing up and against one another,
in rapid fire
there is no telling my mama to be “quiet,”
she don’t know “quiet.”
Prompt: What languages does your family or did your ancestors speak? Draw inspiration from this language/these languages. How do they blend? How do they compliment one another?
the wooden house in Castañer didn’t come with air
conditioner or anything cool. The heat was its own
kind of music, & so was abuela – demanding,
sharp-tongued. The kind of woman, I imagine
whose teeth grew in because she told them to.
Prompt: Write a poem for the most courageous person you know.
& mommy says ‘throw me in the river when I’m dead’
& don’t let somebody’s god / intervene / i suerga / get rid of my bones / give me ash give me powdered
flesh / give me a new York city skyline / pour me in the Hudson / but only the middle / the clean part / i
tell her there is no clean / part of the Hudson / it’s a landfill of things / that stay dead / & like it / that
way & don’t you / wanna be reborn / on the other side / of hunger?
Prompt: This visual impact of this poem is striking: How can you use form to create illusion?
Dear Straight People,
Who do you think you are?
Do you have to make it so obvious that I make you uncomfortable?
Why do I make you uncomfortable?
Do you know that makes me uncomfortable?
Dear Straight People,
You’re the reason we stay in the closet.
You’re the reason we even have a closet.
I don’t like closets, but you made the living room an unshared space
and now I’m feeling like a guest in my own house.
Prompt: Rewrite this epistolary poem to fit your life. Who is the protagonist and who is the antagonist in your story? Who would you write this letter to?
INTERVIEWS