Dr. Diamond Forde

The Book of Alice (2026): Body (2021):
No one is free until we are all free.
(she/her)

[Dr. Diamond Forde @PoemsAndCake]

This is, technically, my second time saying this but I am still just as ecstatic (terrified) delighted as my first book to announce my second full-length, THE BOOK OF ALICE, was chosen for publication by @ScribnerBooks as part of their poetry open call #Scribner300

[Scribner @ScribnerBooks]

THE BOOK OF ALICE is the winner of the 2025 James Laughlin Award! Congratulations Diamond Forde (@poemsandcake)!

"An ambitious collection that reaches into the past to call forth a freer future...Both structurally innovative and tender, this collection asks us to consider anew the possibilities of what a book, a memory, and a heart can hold.” -The Academy of American Poets (@POETSorg)

Read more the announcement here: https://t.co/KYx3fwrfv9

Preorder the collection: https://t.co/DwwyeElkpI

[Dr. Diamond Forde @PoemsAndCake]

I'm grateful (and a little bashful) but I'm so glad all that hard work, those long hours trying to carry myself through emptiness, that all that effort came to something. Thank you for your continued support, and please continue to support THE BOOK OF ALICE—debuting January 20th!

[Dr. Diamond Forde @PoemsAndCake]

Grateful to be recognized as this year's James Laughlin Award winner and to be recognized alongside the incredible Fady Joudah, winner of the 2025 Lenore Marshall Poetry Prize. Congratulations!

[Academy of American Poets @POETSorg]

@FadyJoudah Diamond Forde (@PoemsAndCake) received the 2025 James Laughlin Award for her second book The Book of Alice. The award comes with a cash prize of $5,000 and a residency at The Betsy Hotel in Miami. Tyree Daye, Donika Kelly, and Richie Hofmann (@RichieHof) judged the award.⁠

[Dr. Diamond Forde @PoemsAndCake]

Thank you to my editor, Emily Polson, for seeing the vision, to Mark Galarrita, Ellie Crowley, and the Scribner team—this wouldn't be possible without your attention and care. Thank you to all of you who have given me so much courage, love, and support over these last few years!

[Dr. Diamond Forde @PoemsAndCake]

Here's where you can find and connect with me this fall! & I'm going on book tour!!! Let me know if you're interested in partnering or chatting about all things BOOK OF ALICE at your local bookstore! I hope to see as many of you as possible! xoxo

[Dr. Diamond Forde @PoemsAndCake]

And as always, thank you for your kindness, attention, and support!

[Dr. Diamond Forde @PoemsAndCake]

Pre-orders are invaluable in helping measure the success of a book. Barnes & Noble is running a special promo for members, 25% off preorders for THE BOOK OF ALICE, with promo code PREORDER25

https://t.co/ZP7IzAGehP

[Dr. Diamond Forde @PoemsAndCake]

Bringing a little bit of the South to Los Angeles. Want to hug as many of you as physically possible

[Dr. Diamond Forde @PoemsAndCake]

A decade after being a Bucknell Junie myself, I get to return as Poetry Faculty. I'm honored and thrilled.

Share this app with your undergraduates. This is a truly important and life-changing space.

[Stadler Center for Poetry & Literary Arts @StadlerCenter]

Introducing: our faculty for the Bucknell Seminar for Undergraduate Poets 2025! We’re so thrilled to have @jessnirvanapoet, @PoemsAndCake, and @chenchenwrites on board for the seminar! Applications open next week!

[Dr. Diamond Forde @PoemsAndCake]

And while you're browsing the phenomenal 8th issue, check out my interviews with the brilliant @MonicaYoun and Anastacia Renee.

I am lucky to be a part of these interviews--to be surrounded by such incredible voices.

[Dr. Diamond Forde @PoemsAndCake]

Speaking with @tatianajboria was a delight and a privilege. Check out _Nocture in Joy_ and our interview in Issue 8 of @HoneyLiterary

[Pine State Publicity @PineStatePub]

Learning new things about @tatianajboria book NOCTURNE IN JOY @sundresspub through her gorgeous and heart-full interview with @PoemsAndCake in @HoneyLiterary.

https://t.co/qRHG01TJGW

[Dr. Diamond Forde @PoemsAndCake]

@raniqualee @MonicaYoun @honey Thank you for reading ❤️

[Dr. Diamond Forde @PoemsAndCake]

@_joseolivarez Thank you, José!

[Dr. Diamond Forde @PoemsAndCake]

Gone head and tell your bosses, your families, your nana and your friends that you will be taking the day off cuz IT'S MY BIRTHDAY 🎂 🥳

Grateful that every day I get to wake up to something beautiful, and today that something beautiful is you.

[Dr. Diamond Forde @PoemsAndCake]

Picture is a beautiful overlook in these here hills. If you're moved to make a birthday donation, I'll use it to get burritos. Venmo @Diamond-Forde

[Dr. Diamond Forde @PoemsAndCake]

Thank you for making life worth living, for loving on me these last three decades. Fair warning though, I'm gonna need at least three decades more from you, minimum. But I promise to love you back all the same.

[Dr. Diamond Forde @PoemsAndCake]

Congratulations to the other winners, like pressmate @stevenespadaw and @HoneyLiterary @RuthAwad, who I am honored to be in company with. And to the phenomenal finalists whose work I deeply admire compiled here for you to admire too.

https://t.co/cRVzMyNcCf

[Dr. Diamond Forde @PoemsAndCake]

Thank you to Jane Wong and the @thebhreview for giving this poem a phenomenal home.

[Dr. Diamond Forde @PoemsAndCake]

Thank you to this year's poetry judge @CTsalazar_ (!), @d_c_demaree, @sa_chavez7, the BotN masthead, and this year's list of readers for considering my work so closely and with so much heart!

[Dr. Diamond Forde @PoemsAndCake]

I am always fashionably late to my own party but still grateful one of my weird little recipe poems, "Southern Fried Catfish, or How to Disguise a Carolinian in New York" is one of the Best of the Net.