Luther Kissam V

Poet | Writer | Mental Health Advocate

Books

have i told you about my superpowers

Whether “manic sailing with planets” or using “the rust of mars” to describe anger, emerging poet Luther Kissam V draws on the celestial and terrestrial to explore mental health. These elements push and pull Kissam’s poems through chaos and calm, through meditations and medications, and ultimately, to a maintained balance. For Kissam, bipolar is a gift from the moon, a gravitational force that fuels exploration of space: mental, physical and spiritual. The selected poems in Superpowers are deeply personal, revealing the tumult and tranquility teetering in us all, especially in those whose experience of beauty, joy, and pain is physical, sometimes tragic, and often supernatural. His confessions of failure, triumph, and resiliency will resonate with those affected by, diagnosed with, or curious about bipolar disorder.

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About

Luther Kissam V

Poet | Writer | Mental Health Advocate

Luther Kissam V is a poet, writer and mental health advocate from Charlotte, NC. His perspective is shaped by a rich interplay of personal introspection and human and natural encounters. His poetry has been featured in The Emerson Review, Lived-In, and at numerous ekphrastic exhibits throughout Charlotte. A speaker, advocate, lecturer and mentor, he uses his platform to foster conversations on introspection, healing, and human connection. He previously worked as writer-in-residence aboard the SY Acadia telling stories that bridged the personal with the global, as he documented marine conservation efforts in the Eastern Tropical Pacific. 


photo courtesy of Richard Israel

Speaking

Luther Kissam V speaks to students, faculty, and communities from a near-peer perspective about resilient living through the lens of lived-experience with bipolar disorder. Kissam offers that his “superpowers” are born from the skills he’s acquired managing the ups and downs of life, and he gives his audiences a pathway to find their own “superpowers” from their life’s challenges.

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Testimonials

“In one unabashedly honest and vulnerable poem after another, Luther Kissam’s Have I Told You About My Superpowers takes us on a journey from mania to acceptance to dancing along the thin edge of suicide to an approximation of peace. In the opening poem, he is ‘inevitably manic / sailing with planets.’ In the final poem, he wakes at six in the morning every day to ‘write, / read, and drink decaffeinated coffee for an hour. I watch / the Sun rise. Then, I practice gratitude. I really do…/ Still, I miss mania. / Still, depression lulls me in.’ Have I Told You About My Superpowers isn’t so much about healing; it’s about undertaking the process to healing, about not giving up on the self – no matter how fraught it may be – and where that journey takes us. Is the body cured by poetry, mood stabilizers, therapy, faith? No. But is the body made better by it? Yes, Kissam, argues from ‘this treatment center of hope.’ Yes!”

“Luther visited Shippensburg University to do a speaking event for our community and a poetry workshop for the English Department. Luther was very easy to work with, was very reliable, and tailored his message and tone to meet each audience’s need. Luther conveys deeply personal and passionate insights on mental health – often revealing his personal struggles and triumphs. His message never waivers from a vein of hope and positivity while simultaneously never minimizing the pain that he – and so many others – use in order to catalyze growth and healing. Luther’s message, tone, and delivery are resonant for college students and young adults who may be grappling with anything from serious mental health challenges to the normal developmental milestones of young adulthood. His poetry and readings are often a critical component of relying complex intrapersonal dynamics in simple and accessible language which show the commonality between all of us.”

“Luther Kissam V is the rare speaker who considers his audience as carefully as his words. Whether in an auditorium or classroom setting, he caters his presentation to the people in the room, carefully selecting pieces from his collection to speak with them. Kissam’s generosity as a presenter is not only the dialogue he enters into with listeners but also the room he creates for them. He tees up a piece by offering just enough context for orientation. Afterwards, he inserts a pause — a quiet space for listener experience. Dedicated to the dual crafts of writing and speaking, Kissam is intentional, professional, honest, and engaging.”

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Contact

luther@lutherkissamv.com