Courtney Conrad
On Shift
2024
Courtney Conrad interviewed a group of Black midwives and Black women about their experiences with preterm birth—their fears, resilience, and the weight of untold stories. From these conversations, she crafted a series of poems in response, weaving their voices, emotions, and memories into verse. She also led a poetry workshop, guiding them to shape their own narratives in their own words. The poems which emerged from that journey are a reflection of love, loss, and the unbreakable bond between mothers and the children they fight to hold onto and the duty of care midwives possess.
The Birth Rites Collection has acquired 5 unique recordings of Courtney Conrad performing the poems which she composed for this commission. To listen to an excerpt from these performances please click on the link above. The other works are called On Route, My body is my own and so I know it, Unexpected Waters and NICU: Day in the life.
Courtney Conrad is a Jamaican poet. Her debut pamphlet I Am Evidence is published by Bloodaxe Books. She won the Eric Gregory Award, Michael Marks Award, Bridport Prize Young Writers Award and Mslexia Women’s Pamphlet Prize. Her poetry explores the following themes: migration, womanhood, religion, gender-based violence and poverty. She is a Cave Canem fellow and an alumna of The London Library Emerging Writers Programme, Roundhouse Poetry Collective and Barbican Young Poets.
