The poetry of Greg Powell's new book, Invitation, has been curated from a lifelong journey in faith and urban adventure. He can't remember a time when he wasn't writing. His passion for history emerged early in his life, and kept him reading voraciously throughout childhood, far surpassing his school curriculum. Over the years, as it piled up, Powell kept his collection of writing loosely stored in notebooks, binders, folders of all kinds, then eventually filing cabinets, and shelves of poems, songs, plays, short stories, sermons, and other prose. He's never without a notebook and pen; he writes as a way of breathing.
Powell's work has appeared in Essence, The Black Nation, Black American Literature Forum, Haymarket, the Evergreen Review and other periodicals. His roots hail from Chicago's West Pullman community, where he grew up with his younger sister in a tightly knit working class family. Powell's life journey has seemingly avoided most conventional routes as if on purpose – in fact, precisely on purpose. Invitation, by virtue of his journey, is a collection written during adventures at universities in Chicago and New York City (including and MFA in Poetry from Columbia University), various church ministries across the Chicago area, family social services, youth groups and pastoral care. He has worked as much with young children as he has at the bedside of the elderly in pastoral care. Greg's innate vulnerability is the product of lifelong ministry. His poetry reflects the emotional breadth of these experiences. His poems unfold the common highs and lows we experience in childbirth and loss, the passions and trials of love, and the perennial mysteries of parenting.
It also reflects his love of music and music history, observations of our world, his faith journey, and the life conundrums we experience in common. Yet, his writing maintains a light touch, humorous, and accessible to any reader. Because Greg is a drummer, the syncopation of his verses is ever present. At times abrupt and abbreviated, Greg makes his poetic impact with the economy and artistry of language he exhibits in his preaching, and teaching. As the reader feels the flow, the lyrical rhythms are contagious. Invitation is a pleasure to read, its themes enlightening, and its rhythms, irresistible.