Miami Inspired Aja Monet's New Collection of Poems, Florida Water

Though she grew up in New York and now calls Los Angeles home, Aja Monet's six years in Miami played a pivotal role in her growth as a poet. Her second collection of poetry, Florida Water, out June 3, was inspired by her time spent living in Little Haiti from 2015 to 2021.

"I was brought down to Florida by Dream Defenders and Community Justice Project," Monet tells New Times. "I was invited to bring poetry into the community in an intentional way. This book is a collection of poems inspired by the energy of the work we were doing for people to have affordable housing and not get kicked out of their homes."

Her work in Miami was an extension of the practice she'd honed from a young age. "I recognized myself in other poets. What they were doing with language resonated," Monet says of her early days. "I became a part of the poetry community in New York City, where there was a thriving community of young poets just as nerdy about words as me. My peers became my inspiration. There was an air in the city to go find poetry events. Then I got to see so many great poets live like Mahogany L. Browne, Maya Angelou, Lucille Clifton." Langston Hughes, Allen Ginsberg, and the Def Poetry Jam TV series were also personal touchstones.

But nothing influenced Florida Water's 140 pages as much as Monet's time in Miami. "They were all written while I was here," she says of the book's poems. "If I wrote them after I left, they would be different. I've had them ready for a long time. You edit them, but you have to learn to let things go and accept who you were when you wrote the poems."

One poem is dedicated to the Overtown artist Purvis Young. Another, titled "A State of Emergency," is about the Sunshine State's long struggle for equality. "Florida gets a name for being a conservative, right-wing state. But there's a history of folks who fought back," says Monet. She mentions the Maroons, who escaped enslavement and formed settlements in Florida's wilderness. "I found notes of a lot of different narratives in Florida. I visited freshwater springs and the swamp. The terrain is a huge part of the poem."

Beyond the written word, one can also listen to Monet's poetry accompanied by music. Her debut album, When the Poems Do What They Do, was nominated for Best Spoken Word Poetry Album at the 2024 Grammy Awards.

"I feel like every poem has music in it," says Monet. "There are elements of poetry that are lyrical; a lot comes from sonic cues. I don't do song structures of verse-chorus, verse, and a bridge. The poems take the lead in the music. I've been lucky to collaborate with musicians who understand the color of the poetry."

On Tuesday, June 3, Monet will mark the release of her second collection of poems with a reading at Dale Zine. She expects the event to be a homecoming party of sorts. "It'll be a space for gathering around memories we made together," she says. "I'll always have a deep connection to Miami. In a time where we feel there are a lot of efforts to make us feel divided and disconnected, this will be a time to reminisce before the over-gentrification of places we considered sacred; before an assault on the cultural foundation of the city when developers and money became the focus."

Florida Water: Aja Monet and Nadege Green In Conversation. 6 p.m. Tuesday, June 3, at Dale Zine, 50 NE 40th St., Miami; dalezineshop.com. Tickets cost $25 via tickettailor.com.