Locals and literary lovers gathered at Off Square Books to celebrate the release of Nadia Alexis’ debut poetry collection, “Beyond the Watershed,” at 6 p.m. on Wednesday, March 5. At the event, Alexis read a few pieces from her collection and answered questions from Melissa Ginsburg, an associate professor of creative writing and literature, as well as the audience.
Nadia Alexis is an all-around artist whose works span literature and photography. Alexis is a transplant to Mississippi from Harlem, N.Y. with deep ties to Haiti. Alexis graduated from Union College in Schenetacdy, N.Y. with a bachelor’s degree in political science and holds both a master’s of fine arts in creative writing and a doctorate in English from the University of Mississippi. Alexis described her journey as an artist.
“I used to want to be a lawyer, then I realized that I wanted to be creative, which was many years after I graduated college. I decided that I wanted to go to grad school for creative writing and specifically in the South because it’s slower and warmer for longer,” Alexis said. “I knew that I would be able to create in Mississippi because on a trip to the South I picked up photography.”
“Beyond the Watershed” is a collection of Alexis’ poems and photography that explores her Haitian roots, generational trauma, domestic violence and survival.
Returning to Oxford to release “Beyond the Watershed” was important to the poet as someone who is deeply connected to the literary community of Oxford.
“I used to work at Square Books, so it kind of feels like a full circle moment to me since I finished the book here, made the book here, and then I was working here while I was doing some of that,” Alexis said.
Kelsey Fox, a doctoral candidate, expressed her support for Alexis and noted how much her impact on Oxford by hosting this event at Off Square Books.
“Nadia is a very good friend of mine because I am getting my Ph. D. in literature at the university and we met when I came into the program. I write about ecocriticism, and this is a book that is really rich with nature, which is visceral in every page,” Fox said. “I’ve seen so many writers come out of this program that a lot of people in the community at large haven’t tapped into yet.”
Alexis’ writing and photography have been published in notable literary journals including the Shenandoah Review and Poets and Writers as well as Forgotten Lands and Mfon: Women Photographers of the African Diaspora. She has received numerous honors for her work, which include multiple Pushcart Prize nominations, an honorable mention for the Hurston/Wright College Writers Award and a fellowship and grant from the Mississippi Arts Commission, and more.
Lisa Howorth, who co-owns Square Books with her husband Richard Howorth, spoke about the renowned literary community in Oxford, its history and Alexis.
“There’s an energy around the literary community in Oxford that I’ve been lucky enough to witness. It gives a small town like Oxford and the university a lot of cultural depth. When we started the bookstore back in the 1970s, there was nothing much going on,” Howorth said. “William Faulkner’s legacy shadowed everything during that time, and it’s a huge gap in the local literary history between then and now. Plenty of events have come through here in recent years, so we definitely see the full flowering of that influence.
Alexis currently teaches at the Mississippi School of the Arts in Brookhaven, Miss., and spoke of how she wants to leave an impact on others through mentoring young writers.
“It’s very important to me that I’m teaching writers in Mississippi because I would love to see more Mississippi writers become well known. I think that any one of my students could become the next Jesmyn Ward or Kiese Laymon, and I see where I can contribute to that,” Alexis said. “I have no idea who it will be, but I believe that something good will come from it.”
