About the Author: Kelli Stevens Kane is a poet, playwright, oral historian, and accountant. She’s a Cave Canem Fellow, an August Wilson Center Fellow, and a recipient of Advancing Black Arts in Pittsburgh grants from The Pittsburgh Foundation. She’s studied at VONA, Hurston/Wright, and Callaloo. Kane’s poems have appeared in North American Review, Little Patuxent Review, Under a Warm Green Linden, Painted Bride Quarterly, and Split This Rock. She’s read her poetry and oral history and performed her one woman show, Big George, nationally. Hallelujah Science (published by Spuyten Duyvil press) is her first book.
For more information visit www.kellistevenskane.com.
“Hallelujah Science comes at you like a muted fever and suddenly you find yourself wanting to stomp and shout. Kane’s level of insight, revelation, and economy becomes a spiritual exodus to the lands of being Black, white, a poet, a woman, a shadow, and a human being. To be sure, when we use the phrase ‘dropping science,’ Kane drops it on a regular basis in this book. Welcome to the science of living as a celebration to be questioned, laughed at, examined, and cut with verse so exact that you have to be willing to bleed to live.” – Willie Perdomo, The Crazy Bunch, winner of the New York City Poetry Award
“In this collection of sharp and tenderly rendered vignettes, Kelli Stevens Kane crafts a burgeoning, addictive narrative that draws from her prowess as a storyteller and a lover of history, sang long and aloud.” – Patricia Smith, Incendiary Art, finalist for the Pulitzer Prize
“In medicinal song language Kelli Stevens Kane’s Hallelujah Science explores issues of identity, transformation, and the sacred nature of life itself. Kane’s lines are beatific as scripture verses, illuminating the threshold between life, spirit, and the afterlife. These poems acknowledge the relationality between all that exists. Hallelujah Science is a revelatory creation story and a gift to readers everywhere.” – Lisa Panepinto, where i come from the fish have souls
Don’t miss out: White Whale Books will be helping Kelli Stevens Kane launch Hallelujah Science (online) with Rose M. Smith, Adriana E. Ramírez, and Mariahadessa Ekere Tallie on Dec. 11, 2020.
(61)
I like my showers scalding hot
and I like to touch the lids of boiling pots of water.
lately though
I’ve been getting burned
I’ve lost a lot of my fingerprints
so I went out and bought some oven mitts
and I’m trying to adjust to my new self.
the unspeakable
opposite
of invincible.
(37)
Turning bad apples
into baked apples,
I am happy
about brown sugar and heat
and look forward
to throwing some ice cream on top.
I love anything
brave enough to melt.
This excerpt from Hallelujah Science by Kelli Stevens Kane is published here courtesy of the author and should not be reproduced without permission. “(61)” was originally published in The Mom Egg, volume 8 and also appeared in Hip Mama. “(37)” was originally published in Mythium Literary Journal.
From the Publisher: "In this “smart, irreverent secret history” (Stewart O’Nan) Sewickley set novel by highly praised Pittsburgh native author Anna Read more
From the Publisher: "In his debut collection of nonfiction, Jim Daniels writes about trees, backyard swing sets, above-ground swimming pools, Read more
From the Publisher: "Imagine that you are a child who was born in a large family, and during your childhood, Read more
"The City of Pittsburgh, with funding through the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA), is launching the Support for Artists Grant Read more
Littsburgh's founder Rachel Ekstrom Courage (now a New York Times and USA Today bestselling author!) recently stopped by KDKA to Read more
"Applications are now open for Read Local Eat Local 2025! This is event is on Saturday, September 6, from 11 Read more
PITTSBURGH — Prime Stage Theatre celebrates its 29th season with three world premieres commissioned from three Pittsburgh playwrights: Nov. 7-16, 2025 – Mr. Read more
PITTSBURGH, PA – It’s time to book your spot! Registration for the 2025 Greater Pittsburgh Festival of Books is officially Read more
From the Publisher: "The Mackenzies and the Flahertys, two of the founding families of Port Kenneth, TN, have been feuding Read more
"The Northern Appalachia Review welcomes submissions of poetry, fiction, and nonfiction written about, representing, or engaging with the experience of Read more
But this too is true: stories can save us The writer Tim O’Brien calls storytelling an essential human activity. "The Read more
"'Where do you end and I begin?' is the question which haunts Shaheen Dil’s remarkable memoir-in-poems. Dil’s journey is at Read more
"A poignant memoir exploring small town baseball as a lens into what’s right and wrong with modern America—written by an Read more
From the Publisher: "In 1958, a midwestern family was uprooted from Canton, Ohio to Bukavu in the Belgian Congo during Read more
"From New York Times bestselling author Marie Benedict and Courtney Sheinmel comes a historical adventure about a young girl plucked Read more
From the Publisher: "It’s Anny’ s first day of middle school and, after years of being homeschooled, her first day Read more
We're happy to share that Pittsburgh's International Poetry forum is sharing their latest events and performances on YouTube, where you Read more
Loretto, PA. March 10, 2025 — The WCoNA Writers Conference of Northern Appalachia® is pleased to announce Deep and Wild: Read more
ALL SKATE: True Stories from Middle Life is a series of musings from one mid-life woman, wife, and mother on what Read more
What inspired you to write Good in Theory? My inspiration for Good in Theory came from so many different places. Read more
