Frank Sherlock was the 2014-15 Poet Laureate of Philadelphia, and a 2013 Pew Fellow in the Arts for Literature. His most recent collection of poems is Space Between These Lines Not Dedicated Sherlock approaches the work of a poet as conduit, and views writing poems as "collaborations of encounter." His projects are often collaborative. The City Real and Imagined was written with the poet C. A. Conrad as a re-visioning of public spaces in what they refer to as "the City of Otherly Love." The two embarked on self-guided psycho-geographical wanders through Philadelphia, each beginning at LOVE Park. Sherlock's time in New Orleans in 2006 resulted in a collaboration with poet Brett Evans, entitled Ready-To-Eat Individual. In an interview with Katy Henriksen for Oxford American: New Orleans & the Gulf Coast Issue, 2008: "The cases of DIY rebirth were everywhere around us, and it was a secret that had stayed within the region’s limits. Also, the effects of a city trying to deal with a shared psychic wound of post-traumatic stress, its effect on the kids of New Orleans shuffled across town into schools with more security guards than teachers, the spike in street crime and other issues of displacement are largely untold stories in the national conversation. But there is also the light and dark magic of the city that cannot be explained in a straight-ahead journalist pursuit. Brett and I decided we could best talk about the state of the city post- Hurricane Katrina| Katrina through the medium of poetry." "I approach poetry as a cartographer," said Sherlock. "...mapping and remapping your surroundings according to your personal memory and associations and histories that you've heard." His project as Poet Laureate, "Write Your Block," gives Philadelphians the opportunity to explore their neighborhoods via poetry. Originally a project with the city's Office of Arts, Culture and the Creative Economy, Write Your Block lives on at The Philadelphia Citizen, so people citywide can use poetry to map the personal landmarks, histories, traditions and experiences that help identify their communities. In 2019 the literary community learned of a time in the late 1980s where he was with a white nationalism oriented skinhead punk group. His politics turned Left after he entered Temple University. He considers the white nationalist period of his life "a point of great shame for me" and the discovery of it led to debate.
Works
Books
', OCLC
The City Real & Imagined, Factory School: Heretical Texts v.5
Sturm and Drang: New Orleans Anthology, Big Bridge/ Trembling Pillow Press
Landscapes of Dissent: Guerrilla Poetry & Public Space, Palm Press
Public Works/Installations'
Refuse Reuse: Language for the Common Landfill, Crane Arts Icebox, Philadelphia, PA Kensington Riots Project, Philadelphia, PA Neighbor Ballads, City of Philadelphia, PA Mural Arts Program. South Philadelphia, PA The B. Franklin Basement Tapes'', Nexus Foundation for Today's Art. Philadelphia, PA
