<p>Amanda Fields and Holly Rizzuto Palker chat with Martheaus Perkins, author of <em>The Grace of Black Mothers</em>, about Black motherhood, poetic form, and the complicated inheritance of the American Dream.</p><p>Martheaus Perkins is a first-generation college graduate and son of a single Black mother. He is the author of <em>The Grace of Black Mothers</em>, published with Trio House Press. His writing has appeared in <em>Black Warrior Review</em>, <em>diode</em>, <em>Obsidian</em>,<em> Mizna</em>, and <em>Beloit</em>. The name “Martheaus” is a collection of each woman who raised him: “Mar-” was his grandmother, “-Thea-” is his mother, and “-us” represents the aunties who created the name.</p><p>Perkins’ debut poetry collection, <em>The Grace of Black Mothers</em>, is a lyrical reckoning, finding grace through Black mothers, aunties, and grannies. Mamie Till-Mobley, Sybrina Fulton, Harriet Tubman, and the author’s own mothers guide readers through the collection. All the while, Perkins brings an array of poetic forms to genres such as fighting game menus, optometry charts, screenplays, pirate codes, and social media threads. <em>The Grace of Black Mothers</em> includes homemade heroes and villains, justice and fabrication, wit and risk, resurrection and erasure.</p><p><a target="_blank" href="https://martheausperkins.com/">Website</a></p><p><a target="_blank" href="https://www.instagram.com/martheaus/">Instagram</a></p><p><a target="_blank" href="https://www.instagram.com/martheaus/?hl=en">Order </a><a target="_blank" href="https://www.instagram.com/martheaus/?hl=en"><em>The Grace of Black Mothers</em></a></p><p></p> <br/><br/>This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit <a href="https://literarymama.substack.com?utm_medium=podcast&#38;utm_campaign=CTA_1">literarymama.substack.com</a>