Multi-talented G’towner named Philly’s Poet Laureate

Posted 7/22/16

Mayor Jim Kenney is seen on Feb. 5 of this year when he named Wisher the city’s third Poet Laureate.[/caption] by Len Lear Yolanda Wisher, 40, who was born in Germantown and has lived there for the …

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Multi-talented G’towner named Philly’s Poet Laureate

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Mayor Jim Kenney is seen on Feb. 5 of this year when he named Wisher the city’s third Poet Laureate. Mayor Jim Kenney is seen on Feb. 5 of this year when he named Wisher the city’s third Poet Laureate.[/caption]

by Len Lear

Yolanda Wisher, 40, who was born in Germantown and has lived there for the last 16 years after being raised in North Wales, is an accomplished poet, singer, musician and educator. In fact, she was named the first Poet Laureate of Montgomery County in 1999 when she was just 23. And on Feb. 5 of this year she was chosen as the third Poet Laureate of Philadelphia, following Sonia Sanchez (2012–13) and Frank Sherlock (2014–15), respectively, and is a 2016 writer-in-residence at the Hedgebrook residency program for women writers (on Whidbey Island, off the coast of Washington State).

According to Kristina Moriconi, the 2014 Poet Laureate of Montgomery County and a well known essayist and author, “Yolanda is an amazing poet. I have a CD of her reading her work and listen to it often for inspiration.”

Although Yolanda has been writing poetry since she was 8, her first book of poetry, “Monk Eats an Afro,” was not published until May of 2014 by Hanging Loose Press, but it received rave reviews. For example, Sonia Sanchez, of Germantown, arguably Philadelphia’s most acclaimed poet, had this to say: “Sister Yolanda’s pocketbook that opens, beckons us to come and taste her ‘iron for your mind’ … Thank you for these exquisite poems.”

Since 2014 Wisher has published individual poems or batches of poems in online and print journals. She is now working on her second book of poems based on her family’s history in Ambler, once known as the “asbestos capital of the world.”

Yolanda graduated from North Penn High School and earned an M.A. in Creative Writing/English from Temple University and a B.A. in English and Black Studies from Lafayette College. She regularly performs her poetry in collaboration with musicians. Another poet of repute, Michael Cirelli, said about Yolanda’s book, “It is the most stunning collection (of poems) that I’ve ever encountered … Wisher makes the writer in me envious and the reader in me joyful.”

Wisher, who lives in Germantown with her partner, Mark Palacio, and their son, frequently plays music with her band, "Yolanda Wisher and the Quick Fixx.”  She previously led the Art Education department of the City of Philadelphia Mural Arts Program and is a Founding Cultural Agent for the U.S. Department of Arts and Culture, a citizen-powered initiative.

Wisher and several other local artists and performers will present two evenings of diverse entertainment on Friday and Saturday, Aug. 5 and 6, 7:30 p.m., at Cliveden, 6401 Germantown Ave. “I was invited,” she explained, “by Josh McIlvain of Nice & Fresh to produce a poem that will be projected on a wall at Cliveden and accompanied by a musical score. The audience will ‘watch and read’ the poem in rhythm to the music.”

Was Wisher, who taught at Germantown Friends School from 2000 to 2010, shocked to be selected Philadelphia’s Poet Laureate, or did she expect it? “It wasn’t really a shock,” she said, “because I applied for the position! But it certainly was a rush of excitement and a thrilling affirmation of purpose. I did have an inkling that this year was my year. Many roads in my life converged to make this opportunity and appointment happen at this time.”

In her position as the city’s Poet Laureate, Yolanda advocates for poetry and related issues (public education, literacy and personal and community voice and expression) city-wide at schools, community organizations, institutions and neighborhood events. She is also planning to launch a new city-wide poetry project this fall in collaboration with “a lot of great partners.”

The prestigious position has changed Wisher’s life, albeit not so much monetarily. “Now I get to live, breathe, think, talk, walk, dream and write poetry most of my days. It’s not a paying job in the traditional sense (the post comes with a $5000 honorarium over two years), but it’s created more opportunities for me to align my passion, my personal mission and my daily work.”

Who are Yolanda’s own favorite poets, past and/or present? “I always return to the past work of Lucille Clifton, Bob Kaufman, Audre Lorde and Ntozake Shange. Present poets I admire include Ross Gay, Douglas Kearney, Nikky Finney and Philly’s own Trapeta B. Mayson and Ursula Rucker.”

The hardest thing the Germantowner ever had to do was “quitting my job last year and deciding to be a full-time poet.”

What is the best advice she ever received? “Many years ago, I asked a poet who became very famous, ‘How did you get to where you are?’ And the poet said in reply, ‘If I told you that, I wouldn’t be where I am; would I?’ It was a harsh reply and not the answer I was hoping for, but it forced me to find my own path as a poet and my own way of defining success. It also taught me how to respond more compassionately to the young poets who would later come asking me the same question.” 

Many young people are discouraged from pursuing a career in the arts because the likelihood of material rewards is slim or worse, but Wisher was fortunate in this regard. “My mother and grandmother were my biggest supporters, but everyone in my family encouraged me and celebrated me as a young poet. They celebrated my gift with language, which was more evident than some of theirs. But I would say that everyone in my family is a poet in some shape or form.”

Yolanda’s mother worked at the Merck pharmaceutical company. Her mom and stepfather “were working-class folks who made their way up to the suburbs and homeownership. I was the first person in my family to graduate from college. I have two younger sisters with whom I grew up.”

How is it that so many people write poetry, but poetry gets such short shrift in this country? “I think that people are still trying to figure out exactly what poetry is. It's not the same thing as spoken word, and it's not the same thing as theater. It can't be completely commercialized or co-opted. It will always need to live at the fringes in order to do its best work.”

What does Yolanda like/dislike about living in Germantown? “I love the grit, swagger and green of Germantown. I love that so many artists have lived here and are drawn here. I dislike that people stereotype, fear and label Germantown without really knowing the place.”

For more information about Yolanda, visit www.yolandawisher.com More information about the Aug. 5 and 6 events at 215-848-1777 or info@cliveden.org ($5 admission).

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