Becoming An Island — Anthony Febo
“Febo dismantles inherited masculinity while dancing on a balancing beam between Brown boyhood and becoming his father's son in this collection of poetry. It is the dinner party you've waited your whole life to attend. The poems hold your hand, guide you to your seat, and feed you until you become the plantain tree itself.”
-Princess Moon, author of The Genocide’s Love Baby Learns to Sing
“The cookbook you didn't know you needed, the family photo album that comes alive, a book to dance to because Febo doesn't give the body any other choice but to learn to say te amo to yourself and mean it, with hips swaying. This book tendered my heart, I mourned the last page for coming too soon.” —Zenaida Peterson, author of Breakfast for Dinner
“C’mon sun, you already know Febo is a beast. This arsenal of art is infectious vocabulary accented in a dare for the reader. Love and light mark the corners on this block of life, whereas this book allows you to live inside them whenever you wish to visit. Become addicted to its concrete and seduced by its bloodwork; somehow, you will find yourself already connected to its DNA. Welcome home.”
—Jamele Adams (aka Harlym 1Two5), Dean of Students at Brandeis University
Anthony Febo is a Puerto Rican artist from Lowell, MA. Febo lives at the intersection of poetry, theatre, performance art, mixed media, and education. For the last 11 years he has been a dedicated learner of the arts and youth arts education. He has devoted his time to working in non-profits in the Greater Boston area, coaching youth slam teams, and touring the country individually as well as a member of the cooking and poetry duo Adobo-Fish-Sauce. As an artist, Febo’s work explores what it means to actively choose joy in the face of what is trying to break you. Using spoken word poetry, aspects of theatre, and elements of cooking he examines issues such as toxic masculinity, family and mental health, culture and identity, and the role representation plays into a person’s development. Febo resides in East Cambridge with his orange cat Finn, his French Bulldog Oscar, and his wife and artistic partner Carlie.
