A Conversation with Alafia Nicole Sessions
Alafia will be judging The Headlight Review’s 2026 Chapbook Prize.
Alafia Nicole Sessions is an accomplished Black poet living in Atlanta. Her debut poetry collection, Nine Drops of Turpentine, was selected as the winner of the Georgia Poetry Prize. A poet with critical acclaim, Alafia praises the strength of those who surround her, whether here physically or having passed on, which is a factor of inspiration that makes this achievement deeper than the material that binds her poetry collection together. Alafia credits the start of her journey as a published poet to her late father’s poetry. His work encouraged her to explore poetry.
“They were so gentle and beautiful and sensitive,” Alafia recounted of her father’s poems, “Which is so rare for a man and a father. So I feel those threads I wanted to pull on and explore in my life’s journey, so I started writing poems.”
Alafia’s interest in becoming a poet sparked during her time in herbalism school. She had been a professional actress for over twenty years, and in 2019, she dedicated herself to poetry. From studying the art form to writing, her desire to dive deeper led her to complete her MFA and find a community, where she credits the support as the balancing factor that deterred the negativity of rejection. She’s continued to adapt while staying true to her nature in her work.
“I would imagine my aesthetic would change. I am in the aesthetic of now, and that now is the book I completed. It is very much shaped by the people I know and love and my mentors.”
Alafia emphasizes the importance of mentors, especially the guiding hands of Philip B. Williams, who taught her skills, such as meter in poetry, and Angel Nafis, whose infamous saying, “there’s too much dip on the chip,” taught her how to find concision that didn’t limit the meaningful language of the message she sends in her work.
“One of Angel’s mentors told her, ‘It’s not about finding the best word, it’s about finding the only word.’ It still gives me chills because there’s probably three or four ways to say something, but what is the only way it must be said.”
Though Alafia is an accomplished poet, she hopes her legacy will stretch beyond her creative work and will last with the relationships she built with others. Community will forever be the building block that lifted her to where she is today, and she longs to give giving.
“I want to be remembered for making people feel as though they belong, as though they’re important, so they matter. I think that’s the caregiver in me, making you feel loved. I would want to be remembered for how I showed up in community and in relationship with people.”
As a guest judge for The Headlight Review’s Poetry Chapbook competition, Alafia has her eyes set on what makes a contender’s chapbook stand out: A writer’s voice and perspective. Who is the writer behind the piece? What’s their obsession? How do they approach that obsession in their work?
“What are you doing formally? Is this going to be like 30 pages of sonnets, and how can you sustain that and make it interesting? Or are you just completely throwing form away and like doing your own interesting, unique expression? I'm drawn to all of that whole spectrum.”
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Thanks to Alafia for taking the time to discuss her work as a poet with us, and for being our 2026 Chapbook Prize judge.
Alafia Nicole Sessions is an actress, educator, and reproductive justice advocate. She was awarded the Furious Flower Poetry Prize in 2023 and the Sustainable Arts Foundation Award in 2021. Sessions lives in Atlanta.
