Vida Cross teaches English literature and creative writing at Milwaukee Area Technical College. But the Chicago native practices what she teaches at MATC and has just published her first book of poetry.
Bronzeville at Night: 1949 is Cross’ exploration of the Chicago neighborhood where her grandparents moved to from Mississippi and where she grew up as a 3rd generation resident. Cross also finds inspiration in the paintings of Archibald J. Motley and the poetry of Langston Hughes - both of whom she has admired and studied since she was a child.
"Knowingly or unknowingly — I want to say subconsciously, when I was a college student I would write like [Hughes in a swing style]. So I wanted to go back to that style consciously [in this book]," Cross explains.
She’ll be giving a reading and talk this Saturday at Boswell Book Company but first she joined Lake Effect's Bonnie North to discuss her work:
