Book Launch & Poetry Reading: Darius Phelps with Dante Clark

Join us at Hive Mind Books, Bushwick's Queer Bookstore & Coffee Shop, to celebrate the launch of My God's Been Silent, the brand new poetry collection by Dr. Darius Phelps.

My God's Been Silent excavates the silence of God through the body of a Black man who has known both sanctuary and abandonment, who has tried to make sense of suffering in a world that too often turns its back.

Phelps will read his work and appear in conversation with fellow poet, Dante Clark. After the reading and conversation, Dr. Phelps will sign copies of his book.

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Books will be available to purchase at Hive Mind Books. We ask that books signed at our events be purchased at our bookstore. Book sales ensure that our independent queer bookstore can continue to keep the lights on and bring great events like this to our neighborhood.

Thank you for your support! If you would like a signed copy, but cannot attend the event, you can order a signed book from us at www.hivemindbooks.com. We ship most places!

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ABOUT THE BOOK

My God's Been Silent is a poetry collection that lives at the intersection of faith and fury, grief and grace. Written in the aftermath of loss and disillusionment, these poems are elegies and incantations-each one a plea, a protest, a prayer left unanswered. This collection excavates the silence of God through the body of a Black man who has known both sanctuary and abandonment, who has tried to make sense of suffering in a world that too often turns its back. This is a book for those who have screamed into the void, for those who carry loss like scripture, and for anyone who has ever felt betrayed by the very thing they were taught to believe would save them. With language that sears and softens, My God's Been Silent does not seek resolution-it seeks release. This collection is not an answer. It is a reckoning. A remembering. A return.

ABOUT DR. DARIUS PHELPS

Dr. Darius Phelps (he/him) is the author of My God’s Been Silent (Writ Large Press, 2026) and The Holy Ghost Lives In Her Laugh (Kith Books, 2026). A poet before anything else, his work bears witness to grief, faith, and the act of becoming—offering language as a form of liberation and light. Through the lens of poetic inquiry, Dr. Phelps explores how verse can function as pedagogy, healing and survival. Rooted in Black literary traditions and personal testimony, his poems navigate silence, ancestry, and resilience, creating sanctuaries for voices too often unheard. His work has been featured by Diode, Een Magazine, School Library Journal, and many more across platforms that champion the power of story to honor every body, every history, and every voice.

ABOUT DANTE CLARK

Dante Clark is a writer and performer from the Bronx, NY. A two-time Pushcart nominee, his work has been featured in The Root, Afropunk, wildness, Adroit Journal, and more. He's received support from organizations including Catapult, In Surreal Life, Haymarket Books and the Mellon Foundation, as well as NYU's Lillian Vernon Creative Writers House—where he's a recent Goldwater Fellow and MFA Graduate. While working on the finishing touches of his debut collection of poems in NYC, Dante remains steadfast in his dream to create in a world where all his homies can prosper.

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Hive Mind Books is a queer and trans bookstore and coffee shop in Bushwick, Brooklyn. Our coffee and tea bar will be open for the duration of this event.

Subways:

(L) Dekalb
(M/L) Myrtle-Wyckoff
(M) Knickerbocker

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