Interview with Quincy Troupe in the Harlem Arts Salon

“Troupe is an innovator of form and tone who shifts quickly from a lofty, elegiac mode into burlesque or smoky, jazzed-down pop phraseology.”—Publishers Weekly

“Troupe’s poems are exuberant and passionate outpourings with driving, syncopated rhythms and improvisatory riffs of colorful language.”—Star Tribune

Coined with the French word errance (to wander) in mind, these poems rove through ancient Yoruba to the streets of Harlem to the tropical heat of Guadeloupe and emerge with a new vocabulary for the transformations of the physical, philosophical, and musical worlds. Known for his long, lyrical narrative poems and invocation of the oral tradition, Quincy Troupe captures the histories and deaths of Michael Jackson and Miles Davis, celebrating both their accomplishments and contradictions. This collection embraces the improvisation of a soul as it offers a paean to the possibilities of poetry.

The author of eight volumes of poetry, Quincy Troupe has also collaborated with Chris Gardner on The Pursuit of Happyness, which was made into a major motion picture, and with Miles Davis on Miles: The Autobiography. His friendship with Miles Davis is chronicled in Miles and Me. Troupe has also recently published children’s books on Magic Johnson and Stevie Wonder. He divides his time between New York and a countryside village in Guadeloupe.