Enzo Silon Surin is a Haitian-born award-winning poet, educator, publisher and social advocate. He is the author of three collections of poetry, including, When My Body Was A Clinched Fist, winner of the 21st Annual Massachusetts Book Awards for Poetry.
In the interview, Enzo explains how “When My Body Was a Clinched Fist” chronicles growing up in New York city, in an area grappling with the crack epidemic, and how refusing to participate in the violence in his environment came at a cost. He had to decide how to manage his pain and trauma, and settled on poetry. Enzo emphasizes the difference between a choice and a decision.
“A choice is having options. A decision is having someone else choose the options for you and telling you to choose … I compare it to a buffet. You can want whatever you want but you are making a decision about what to eat. You are making a decision because if you had a choice, you’d say, ‘can I have something that’s not here?’”
Enzo is also co-editor of Where We Stand: Poems of Black Resilience (Cherry Castle Publishing, 2022), and the recipient of a Brother Thomas Fellowship from the Boston Foundation, and a PEN New England Discovery Award (Celebrated New Voice in Poetry).
He teaches creative writing and literature at Bunker Hill Community College and is also Founding Editor and Publisher at Central Square Press and the President/Executive Director at the Faraday Publishing Company, a nonprofit literary services organization and social advocacy organization.
To learn more about Enzo, or to buy his books of poetry, click here.
Esoterica's The Interview with Enzo Silon Surin