Joy Priest was born and raised in Louisville, Kentucky across the street from the world's most famous horse racing track. She is the author of Horsepower (Pitt Poetry Series, 2020), winner of the Donald Hall Prize for Poetry, and is a National Endowment for the Arts fellow. Her poems have appeared in American Poetry Review, Academy of American Poets’ Poem-a-Day series and The Atlantic, among others, as well as in commissions for the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston (MFAH) and the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA). Her essays have appeared in The Bitter Southerner, Poets & Writers, and ESPN. Priest received her MFA in poetry with a certificate in Women & Gender Studies from the University of South Carolina. 

PRAISE FOR ONCE A CITY SAID:

"An atmospheric sense of place emerges through the collection’s distinct voices and perspectives....While 'Derby City' is mostly known for its horse racing (as well as bourbon and basketball), it is also a meeting place of language and history. As Priest writes in her foreword, the anthology aims at 'recover[ing] those poetic histories and communities in the poems that follow on Louisville’s collective traditions and icons, places and protests, spirits and songs, portraits and memories.' It more than succeeds."
—Publishers Weekly

"This compassionate exploration of community and home, Kentucky history and memory, and race and resilience moved me."
—Connie Pan for Book Riot, "Recent Poetry Releases to Add to Your Collections in Anticipation of the Sealey Challenge"

"Once a City Said: A Louisville Poets Anthology is a sweeping rebuke of a city turned talking point in which more than three dozen poets seek to disrupt outside perceptions of Louisville. . . . At its core, Once a City Said is a deliberate act of resistance, an insistence that outsiders make space for the lived experiences of those who call Louisville home, a vital reminder of the power inherent in refusing to relinquish our collective voices despite all efforts to silence us."
—Ronnie K. Stephens, The Poetry Question

"'A city can't run from itself.. try it & see how far you get.' True enough, poet Erin Keane. But can anyone pin a city down? Can someone bring in three-dozen voices that limn Louisville's limits as precisely but in more dimensions as all the 'You Are Entering' signs around its perimeter? Joy Priest accepted the challenge, editing the new anthology Once a City Said. Among her own contributions is a barefaced and bitter contemplation of the racial divide between her father and her grandfather. In themed sections, the book considers the convoluted history of evolving neighborhoods and neighbors, the pleasures and confoundedness of local culture and traditions."

—T.E. Lyons, LEO Weekly

"Sometimes hidden, always remarkable, this is the story of Louisville."
—Carmichael's Bookstore

“Once A City Said is not only overflowing with brilliance and beauty in terms of language, world-crafting, and a harmonious collision of voices, but it is also a work overflowing with generosity. To offer a reader the breadth of talent that a place can hold is to allow a reader to restructure that place in their own world. This is a mighty collection of work that I believe will endure for generations.”
—Hanif Abdurraqib, New York Times-bestselling author of Go Ahead in the Rain: Notes to A Tribe Called Quest

“Louisville represent! I’m excited to see that Joy Priest has compiled a textured range of contemporary River City voices that capture the traditions, protests, memories, and spirit that is uniquely Louisville. This anthology is an engaging read that spans voices, styles, and experiences. A wonderful accomplishment that says once and for all that Louisville has its own dazzling slice of Kentucky’s literary legacy.”
—Crystal Wilkinson, Kentucky’s Poet Laureate and author of Perfect Black

"Poignant, heartbreaking and uplifting, this collection of poetry is something wonderful to live with, grapple with and absorb for generations to come."
—Edward Lee, chef and winner of the James Beard Award for Buttermilk Graffitti