Pivot is an experimental, book-length poem exploring the profound act of "turning", with the Haitian Revolution as its cornerstone.
It moves beyond historical narrative, scrutinizing this epochal event through its pivotal moments—critical junctures of rupture and radical reorientation. Mason Jordan masterfully employs repetition, metaphor, and other minimalist abstractions of language to delve into the visceral and conceptual mechanics of turning: a turning away from colonial subjugation, a turning towards new vocabularies of freedom, and the cyclical turning of memory. Through linguistic architectures and etymology, Pivot examines international revolt, revolutionary fervor, and the development of Black Marxism(s) through a critical reflection on Haitian revolutionary history.
Imani Mason Jordan (they/them, born 1992 in London) is an interdisciplinary writer, artist, editor, and curator exploring poetics and performance. Their diverse practice encompasses articles, reviews, essays, poems, plays, and love letters. Since 2016, Jordan has focused on the performative potential of poetics, oration, experimentation, and reading aloud, developing a collaborative and writing-centered performance practice that foregrounds the speaking voice. Following an MA in Forensic Architecture, their pamphlet OBJECTS WHO TESTIFY was published by PSS in 2019. Jordan directs PAPERFLESH PUBLISHING, a small press dedicated to intellectually rigorous, politically engaged Black writers. As part of Languid Hands (2019-) and SYFU (2018), Jordan has curated numerous exhibitions and public programs. At Rupert, Jordan is completing THE BOOK OF SLASH POEMS and developing the solo performance TREAD/MILL. In 2024 Mason Jordan was part of Montez Press Writers Residency.
