Sundai Johnson
Sundai Johnson is a multidisciplinary writer, a “designer of words” that uses poetry, fiction, and non-fiction to explore herself. Originally from Michigan, she is currently based in Los Angeles, CA. She received a Bachelor’s from the University of Michigan and a Master's in Education from Standford University. In 2017 she published “You Always Lose Something in the Move” a collection of poems inspired by movement and transition, with illustrations by tarah douglas.
About her work, Johnson says: “I very much believe that language is attached to our identity and can be used as a weapon against others, or as a tool of empowerment. My work is positioned in the latter” and that she aims to create “nuanced work that engages critical thought, promotes agency and accessibility and centers narrative--particularly through topics in arts and cultures”
About her work in WOV II:
“Lest They Cut Them Out” is the poem included in “A Womb of Violet: Volume II.” It is a powerfully dark poem that reflects on topics such as violence and complicity, community and history, family, and defenselessness.
The daily discomfort and brutality that women have experienced and experience today is expressed unapologetically and directly: “I see the face of a Black woman with her lids / sealed over her eyes, her face / puffed like there is a rubber band / at the base of her neck, his daughter between them, / ready to bear the blows of her father”.
You can learn more about her at sundaijohnson.com