Niki Herd is an accomplished poet, having published two powerful collections of her work, including the recent The Stuff of Hollywood (Copper Canyon Press, 2024), a stark look at the incessant wave of violence that crashes through our communities.

The F&M assistant professor of English’s specialty is documentary poetics, which makes use of current or historical documents to weave a narrative in poetic form. Works of documentary poetics can be deeply reflective and emotionally charged.

“What we write exists in the context of our historical moment and can be shaped into a cultural record that profoundly connects us to readers, future writers, and that part of ourselves we have yet to mine,” she says.

Herd’s inspiration to tap her distinctive voice to draw attention to national trauma and desensitization might be matched by the inspiration she draws from leading students on their journeys to poetic discovery. She enjoys spying the spark of recognition and passion in a student when a passage from a poem strikes a poignant chord. It’s even more rewarding when that same student is moved to write poetry of their own.

“I love teaching, and I love watching students develop a poetic voice,” says Herd, who taught at the University of Houston and Washington University in St. Louis prior to coming to F&M.

Assistant Professor of English and documentary poet Niki Herd instructs and engages with students in her 200-level poetry class during a visit to the Phillips Museum of Art in Steinman College Center. (Photo by Deb Grove)

We recently talked with Herd about her published works, teaching at F&M, and the power of poetry to evoke multiple interpretations among its readers.

F&M: You have published two poetry collections and your works have appeared in over a dozen quarterly journals. What inspired you to teach undergraduate students?

Herd: Over winter break, I received an email from a former student who’s been accepted to several medical schools. She emailed to say she’s still writing and hopes to find a good poetry community wherever she lands. Another student showed up to a reading in October, apologized for not being an attentive student years ago, and then gave me a chapbook he’d recently published. These types of experiences bring me joy. I love teaching and I love watching students develop a poetic voice. Undergraduates are special because during their four years, poetic instruction can pull a student away from or push them closer to the craft. I hope to be a force for the latter.

F&M: Your field is documentary poetics. Can you tell us more about this type of poetry — and why you feel it is important?

Herd: Documentary poetics is a mode of poetry that incorporates source text to create a poem. In most poems, we as readers are accustomed to the speaker’s voice or the poet’s own voice. Documentary poetry relies on language taken from source texts; this language might come from court testimonies, newspapers, statistical reports, published books, etc. For example, Tracy K. Smith’s poem “Watershed” relies on source text to examine the effects of DuPont’s polluting of the Ohio River. The poem is a tour de force.

In terms of why documentary poetry is important, I don’t believe any one mode of poetry is more important than another. There’s room for all of us. What we write as poets is a testament to both beauty and resistance — and everything in between — in the world. My draw to documentary poetry rests in its ability to speak to important issues and/or historical events that are often unknown — and it does so with language not considered traditionally ‘poetic.’

"What we write as poets is a testament to both beauty and resistance — and everything in between — in the world."

—Assistant Professor of English Niki Herd

F&M: You recently led a writing workshop at the Philadelphia Alumni Writers House inspired by the poetry anthology You Are Here, edited by U.S. Poet Laureate Ada Limón. What did you enjoy most about that experience?

Herd: The focus that evening was on one poem from the anthology, Jason Schneiderman’s “Staircase,” which we discussed as a rant poem. There were about 12 of us and a nice mix in terms of age and experience with poetry. I appreciated the conversation that ensued. The poem is about climate change, facts, and the importance of action, and it was nice to hear different interpretations of and reactions to the poem. There was also a short writing prompt and some shared their drafts — the work was really fantastic!

F&M: What are you currently reading for leisure, and what do you find intriguing about the artist's work?

Herd: I don’t read much for leisure until the summer, but I recently finished Victoria Chang’s With My Back to the World. Many of the poems are ekphrastic and influenced by Agnes Martin’s paintings. Chang’s poems are minimalistic, conversational, and deeply interior. There are poems that visually look as if they were written on the Notes app; there are erasures and illustrations. It’s one of those books that makes you think about life on an existential level, which seems appropriate right now.

Assistant Professor of English Niki Herd engages with students during her 300-level poetry class in the Keiper Liberal Arts building. (Photo by Deb Grove)

Students in Assistant Professor of English Niki Herd's 200-level poetry class draw inspiration from the exhibits at the Phillips Museum of Art. (Photo by Deb Grove)

Assistant Professor of English Niki Herd specializes in documentary poetics, a form of poetry that incorporates source text to create a poem. (Photo by Deb Grove)

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