Danielle Legros Georges (February 14, 1964 – February 11, 2025) was a Haitian-born American poet, translator, essayist, and academic. She was a professor of creative writing in the Lesley University MFA Program in Creative Writing.[1] Her areas of focus included contemporary American poetry, African-American poetry, Caribbean literature and studies, literary translation, and the arts in education.[2] She was the creative editor of sx salon, a digital forum for innovative critical and creative explorations of Caribbean literature.[3] Legros Georges was poet laureate of Boston, Massachusetts, from 2015 to 2019.
After graduating from Emerson College with a bachelor's degree in Communication Studies, she became part of the Dark Room Collective of Black writers, and went on to earn a master's of fine arts degree in English and creative writing from New York University.[5] As Ira Mathur observes, Georges had "an enduring commitment to the arts, but also to the notion of art as a vehicle for social engagement and healing. It was at NYU that she began to seriously engage with poetry, and her work began to reflect her complex engagement with language—both as a means of expression and as a tool for cultural reclamation."[6]
She was a professor in the Creative Arts in Learning Division of Lesley University.[7]
Legros Georges's debut book of poems, Maroon, was published in 2001 by Curbstone Press / Northwestern University Press.[9] Her second poetry collection, The Dear Remote Nearness of You (Barrow Street Press, 2016), won the New England Poetry Club's Sheila Margaret Motton Book Prize.[10] Her last collection, Three Leaves, Three Roots: Poems on the Haiti–Congo Story, was published by Beacon Press in January 2025.[11][12]
In 2014, she was chosen as Boston's poet laureate,[4] the second person to hold the position since the first appointee, Sam Cornish, in 2008.[10][13] In this ceremonial role, she was tasked with raising the status of poetry in the everyday consciousness of Bostonians, acting as an advocate for poetry, language and the arts, and creating a unique artistic legacy through public readings and civic events.[1] In her role as laureate, she established visiting hours for Bostonians interested in discussions of poetry in branches of the Boston Public Library; created a senior writing workshop for residents of the Mount Pleasant Home and elders of the area community;[14] visited area schools; wrote occasional poems for civic events including the Mayor's State of the City addresses of 2015 and 2016, and the re-opening of the Boston Public Library's Central Branch; and collaborated with poets and poetry organizations in public art projects. As the city laureate, Legros Georges collaborated with Boston-area museums, libraries, artists and students; and represented Boston internationally at literary festivals. In a 2016 interview, she said: "I work on reflecting the vibrancy and life of the city of Boston, my commitment is to the community, and the city's diversity."[15] Her term of office as laureate ran from 2015 to 2019.[16]
Legros Georges died at home in Dorchester, Boston, on February 11, 2025, at the age of 60.[17]
Awards
Awards and accolades include:
2012: Massachusetts Cultural Council Finalist in Poetry
2013: Black Metropolis Research Consortium Fellowship/Andrew W. Mellon Grant
