Overview

Starring thirty-seven poets, with contributions from acclaimed authors, including Kwame Alexander, Ibi Zoboi, and Nikki Giovanni, this breathtaking Black YA poetry anthology edited by National Book Award finalist Amber McBride, Taylor Byas, and Erica Martin celebrates Black poetry, folklore, and culture. Come, claim your wings. Lift your life above the earth, return to the land of your father's birth. What exactly is it to be Black in America? Well, for some, it's learning how to morph the hatred placed by others into love for oneself; for others, it's unearthing the strength it takes to continue to hold one's swagger when multitudinous factors work to make Black lives crumble. For some, it's gathering around the kitchen table as Grandma tells the story of Anansi the spider, while for others it's grinning from ear to ear while eating auntie's spectacular 7Up cake. Black experiences and traditions are complex, striking, and vast--they stretch longer than the Nile and are four times as deep--and carry more than just unimaginable pain--there is also joy. Featuring an all-star group of thirty-seven powerful poetic voices, including such luminaries as Kwame Alexander, James Baldwin, Ibi Zoboi, Audre Lorde, Nikki Giovanni, and Gwendolyn Brooks, this riveting anthology depicts the diversity of the Black experience by fostering a conversation about race, faith, heritage, and resilience between fresh poets and the literary ancestors that came before them. Edited by Taylor Byas, Erica Martin, and Coretta Scott King New Talent Award winner Amber McBride, Poemhood will simultaneously highlight the duality and nuance at the crux of so many Black experiences with poetry being the psalm constantly playing.

Full Product Details

9798212897839

Table of Contents

Reviews

Author Information

"Amber McBride is currently an assistant professor at the University of Virginia. She received her MFA in poetry from Emerson College in 2012. She also served as the media assistant at the Furious Flower Poetry Center. Her poetry has appeared in various literary magazines, including Ploughshares, Provincetown Arts, Willow Springs, the Cincinnati Review, the Rumpus, and others. She has been nominated twice for Best on the Net awards. Her debut YA novel in verse, Me (Moth), was a finalist for the Morris Award and National Book Award in Children's Literature and won the John Steptoe-Coretta Scott King Award. Her sophomore novel in verse, We Are All So Good at Smiling, received four starred reviews. Amber McBride is currently an assistant professor at the University of Virginia. She received her MFA in poetry from Emerson College in 2012. She also served as the media assistant at the Furious Flower Poetry Center. Her poetry has appeared in various literary magazines, including Ploughshares, Provincetown Arts, Willow Springs, the Cincinnati Review, the Rumpus, and others. She has been nominated twice for Best on the Net awards. Her debut YA novel in verse, Me (Moth), was a finalist for the Morris Award and National Book Award in Children's Literature and won the John Steptoe-Coretta Scott King Award. Her sophomore novel in verse, We Are All So Good at Smiling, received four starred reviews. Erica Martin is a freelance editor and a poet. Her debut poetry collection, And We Rise, was an ABA Indies Introduce selection as well as an ABA Indie Next pick. She has been featured by Oprah Daily and enjoys making a difference in the world through political activism, reading, and writing. When she's not reading and writing, you can find her editing, baking pies, or watching The Vampire Diaries for the millionth time. Erica Martin is a freelance editor and a poet. Her debut poetry collection, And We Rise, was an ABA Indies Introduce selection as well as an ABA Indie Next pick. She has been featured by Oprah Daily and enjoys making a difference in the world through political activism, reading, and writing. When she's not reading and writing, you can find her editing, baking pies, or watching The Vampire Diaries for the millionth time. Taylor Byas is a Black Chicago native currently living in Cincinnati, Ohio. She is the first-place winner of the 2020 Poetry Super Highway, the 2020 Frontier Poetry Award for New Poets, and the 2021 Adrienne Rich Award for Poetry. She is the author of the chapbooks Bloodwarm and Shutter and her debut full-length collection, I Done Clicked My Heels Three Times. She is also a coeditor of the forthcoming The Southern Poetry Anthology, Volume X: Alabama. Taylor Byas is a Black Chicago native currently living in Cincinnati, Ohio. She is the first-place winner of the 2020 Poetry Super Highway, the 2020 Frontier Poetry Award for New Poets, and the 2021 Adrienne Rich Award for Poetry. She is the author of the chapbooks Bloodwarm and Shutter and her debut full-length collection, I Done Clicked My Heels Three Times. She is also a coeditor of the forthcoming The Southern Poetry Anthology, Volume X: Alabama. Others, as in, not you James Baldwin (1924-1987), acclaimed New York Times bestselling author, was educated in New York. His first novel, Go Tell It on the Mountain, received excellent reviews and was immediately recognized as establishing a profound and permanent new voice in American letters. The appearance of The Fire Next Time in 1963, just as the civil rights movement was exploding across the American South, galvanized the nation and continues to reverberate as perhaps the most prophetic and defining statement ever written of the continuing costs of Americans' refusal to face their own history. It became a national bestseller, and Baldwin was featured on the cover of Time. The next year, he was made a member of the National Institute of Arts and Letters and collaborated with the photographer Richard Avedon on Nothing Personal, a series of portraits of America intended as a eulogy for the slain Medger Evers. His other collaborations include A Rap on Race with Margaret Mead and A Dialogue with the poet-activist Nikki Giovanni. He also adapted Alex Haley's The Autobiography of Malcolm X into One Day When I Was Lost. He was made a commander of the French Legion of Honor a year before his death, one honor among many he achieved in his life. Nikki Giovanni has written many books of poetry for children and adults. She calls herself, ""a Black American, a daughter, a mother, a professor of English."" She was born in Knoxville, Tennessee, and grew up in Lincoln Heights, an all-black suburb of Cincinnati, Ohio. She studied at Fisk University, the University of Pennsylvania, and Columbia University. She published her first book of poetry, Black Feeling Black Talk, in 1968, and since then has become one of America's most widely read poets. Kwame Alexander is a poet, educator, and the New York Times best-selling author of more than thirty-five books, including Rebound, the follow-up to his Newbery medal-winning middle grade novel, The Crossover. Some of his other works include Booked, which was longlisted for the National Book Award, The Playbook: 52 Rules to Help You Aim, Shoot, and Score in this Game of Life, Swing, and the picture books Out of Wonder and The Undefeated, which was longlisted for the National Book Award and won the Caldecott Medal, a Newbery Honor, and the Coretta Scott King Illustrator Award. He is a regular contributor to NPR's Morning Edition, currently serving as their poet ambassador. He lives with his family in the UK. Visit his website at www.kwamealexander.com or find him on Twitter and Instagram @kwamealexander. Angel Pean is an actor and narrator who thrives on the power of storytelling and being a part of impactful projects that leave their mark. She made her way from Houston, Texas, to NYC to attend the New York Conservatory for Dramatic Arts. There, she obtained a degree in film and television performance. Angel has had the pleasure of training with several coaches and actors, including Jay R. Goldenberg, Maury Ginsberg, and Ruth Nerken. Her love for storytelling, as well as reading, eventually led her to explore the beautiful world of audiobooks! She began studying with narrator and coach, Elise Arsenault, has since built a home studio, and recently finished narrating her very first book: The Vampire's Assistant by Eva Alton, a romantic fantasy now available on Audible. In her free time, you'll certainly find her lounging around with her cat, or dancing. Angel currently resides in Atlanta, Georgia, where she is continuing to audition, work, and hone her craft. Greg Campbell is an award-winning freelance journalist and editor of the Fort Collins Weekly. His work has appeared in the Christian Science Monitor, San Francisco Chronicle, and the fifth edition of Lonely Planet's West Africa guidebook. He was consultant to the film, Blood Diamond."

Tab Content 6

Customer Reviews

Recent Reviews

Countries Available