Faylita Hicks
Faylita Hicks | |
|---|---|
| Born | 1985 (age 40–41) |
| Occupation | Poet |
| Education | Sierra Nevada University (M.F.A.)[1] Texas State University (B.A.)[1] |
| Notable works | HoodWitch; A Map of My Want |
| Notable awards | Lambda Literary Award for Bisexual Poetry (finalist, 2020); Midwest Book Award (General Poetry, 2025) |
Faylita Hicks (born 1985) is an American poet and the author of the poetry collections HoodWitch (2019) and A Map of My Want (2024).[2][3][4] HoodWitch was a finalist for the 2020 Lambda Literary Award for Bisexual Poetry.[5] A Map of My Want won the 2025 Midwest Book Award (General Poetry).[2]
Life and career
Hicks was born in California and raised in Texas.[2] They teach in the low-residency creative writing MFA program at the University of Nevada, Reno,[1] serve as core faculty in poetry at StoryStudio Chicago,[6] and were a 2021 Shearing Fellow at the Black Mountain Institute.[7] Hicks was also featured in the 2019 ITVS/PBS documentary 45 Days in a Texas Jail.[8]
HoodWitch (poetry collection)
Hicks's debut collection HoodWitch received attention from literary critics. In RHINO, Emily Pérez described the book as a strong debut and emphasized how it combines Haitian Vodou, personal trauma, and public violence through the figure of "Gawd".[9] In The Rupture, Deborah Bacharach read the collection as a work of spiritual action.[10] In an essay in West Branch that considered HoodWitch alongside other books, the collection was described as reclaiming witchcraft as a Black diasporic and feminist source of authority and, "at its core," as a book of "protection spells for girls".[11]
Bibliography
Poetry
- HoodWitch (Acre Books, 2019).[3][9][10][12][13]
- A Map of My Want (Haymarket Books, 2024).[4][14][15]
Awards and honors
- 2025 Writing Freedom Fellowship, awarded by Haymarket Books and the Mellon Foundation.[16]
- 2025 Midwest Book Award (General Poetry), for A Map of My Want.[2]
- 2025 Chicago Writers Association Book of the Year Award (Poetry), for A Map of My Want.[17]
- Lambda Literary Award for Bisexual Poetry (finalist, 2020), for HoodWitch.[5]
- 2020 Sappho Prize (Palette Poetry), first place, for the poem “I Tried Dating Again.”[18]
References
- ^ a b c "Faylita Hicks". University of Nevada, Reno (MFA in Creative Writing). Retrieved March 4, 2026.
- ^ a b c d "Faylita Hicks". Poetry Foundation. Retrieved March 4, 2026.
- ^ a b "HoodWitch". Acre Books. Retrieved March 4, 2026.
- ^ a b "A Map of My Want". HaymarketBooks.org. Retrieved March 4, 2026.
- ^ a b Yee, Katie (March 10, 2020). "Here are the finalists for the 2020 Lambda Literary Awards!". Literary Hub. Retrieved March 4, 2026.
- ^ "Meet the Staff". StoryStudio Chicago. Retrieved March 18, 2026.
- ^ "Faylita Hicks". Black Mountain Institute. Retrieved March 4, 2026.
- ^ "45 Days in a Texas Jail". ITVS. Retrieved March 18, 2026.
- ^ a b Pérez, Emily. "HoodWitch by Faylita Hicks". RHINO. Retrieved March 4, 2026.
- ^ a b Bacharach, Deborah (November 26, 2020). "HoodWitch". The Rupture. Retrieved March 4, 2026.
- ^ Nuernberger, Kathryn. "The Poetics (and Politics) of Spells". West Branch. Retrieved March 12, 2026.
- ^ Kao, Karen (April 22, 2022). "Book of Spells". Shanghai Noir (Inkstone Press). Retrieved March 4, 2026.
- ^ Coleman, Tyrese L. (December 4, 2019). ""HoodWitch" Celebrates the Power of Black Femme Witchcraft". Electric Literature. Retrieved March 4, 2026.
- ^ Sipiora, Emily (July 9, 2024). "Personal and Political Desire in "A Map of My Want"". Chicago Review of Books. Retrieved March 4, 2026.
- ^ "Video: Faylita Hicks: A Map of My Want". Poets & Writers. Retrieved March 4, 2026.
- ^ "Haymarket Books and Mellon Foundation Announce Second Cohort of 'Writing Freedom' Fellows". Mellon Foundation. March 25, 2025. Retrieved March 18, 2026.
- ^ "2025 Book of the Year Awards". Chicago Writers Association. Retrieved March 4, 2026.
- ^ "The Winners and Finalists of the 2020 Sappho Prize!". Palette Poetry. September 16, 2020. Retrieved March 4, 2026.