African American Studies: African-American Poetry

Poems that speak both to the richness and ruin of history and teem with all that is earthy and corporeal. -- Julia Bouwsma ― Poetry Northwest

"The book is a beautiful collection of both new and classic work and features submissions from Frank X Walker, Nikky Finney, Gerald Coleman, Crystal Wilkinson, Kelly Norman Ellis, and many others. The illuminating and powerful collection is a testament to this groundbreaking group." -- Kentucky Alumni; "The poems stake a claim to land, culture, and people, while exhibiting lived social binaries like the beautiful and the ugly, the courageous and the fearful." -- Journal of Appalachian Studies;
" Black Bone is a testament to the work of this trailblazing group which has created a poetic revolution by demanding recognition and promoting racial justice through dynamic and impact writing." -- Mid-South Tribune

"McMorris's poems resemble an entrepôt: polyglot, starling in their juxtapositions, alive to crossings of sound and sense. Perhaps Morris wants us to understand poetry as a meeting place that is both inseparable from and other to actual sites of violent exchange."―Ben Lerner, Harper's Magazine

Winner of the 2016 Levis Reading Prize
Winner of the 2014 Cave Canem Poetry Prize
Finalist for the 2017 Kate Tufts Discovery Award
Rickey Luarentiis is a winner of a 2018 Whiting Writers Prize

“The poems in the collection, influenced by the rhythms, lyricism, and expressiveness of hip-hop music and culture, speak to the many dimensions of black womanhood.”
—Poets & Writers
“This anthology celebrates the works of Black women from all corners of the diaspora, exploring themes of beauty, unapologetic blackness, intersectionality, self-definition, and more.”
—Teen Vogue
“One of the most important volumes of poetry in recent years.”
—Dazed
“Written by and for black women, these poems disrupt myths and stereotypes and present expansive perspectives on black womanhood.”
—Newcity

“A book of narrative meditations that look bravely and, at times, with striking clarity, at the memory of childhood abuse--the poems falling down on the memory itself like so much rain. But these poems don’t point only to themselves--their reach extends out, developing a deep politics of suffering, survival, and family history. Weaver’s poems are crisp in their narrative telling, and also rich with the lyrical complexity that is the pillar of Weaver’s work. . . .If you want to come face to face with the ways identity, family history, language, and suffering build and rebuild who we imagine ourselves to be, then read ‘The Government of Nature.’ And read it more than once.” - ―Prairie Schooner
“Weaver’s devotion to craft and the sincerity of his approach to incorporating elements of Chinese literature and philosophy into his poetry distinguish his voice within African American letters and among American verse writ large. Throughout ‘The Government of Nature,’ the poet moves freely, permitting his verse to wander and ultimately transcend boundaries. . . . In this respect the poetry functions as a bridge, connecting experiences drawn from Black America to enduring works drawn from the Chinese tradition.” --African American Review

"The poems in How God Ends Us are intensely spiritual and address an all-knowing God whose power must be acknowledged and accepted, if not always understood. The power resides in the mystery. . . . Death haunts the poems in this fine collection, but it never dominates. There is much celebration that provides a kind of balance against inevitable loss."―Charleston Post & Courier

ALA Notable Books for Adults; "The melancholic hum of May's tone lends gravity and heart to this debut collection... May's work is skillful and nuanced in its surprising approach to the nature (and nurture) of identity." --Los Angeles Review of Books

“The book sings. . . . ‘If One of Us Should Fall’ draws us in, captivates us with its music, and invites us to watch as longing takes shape across various landscapes. In ‘whichever direction we cast our gaze-- / space we cannot fill, space we cannot leave,’ we are there with the poet, immersed in song.” --Salamander

Toi Derricotte is an award-winning poet whose work tackles difficult and universal subject matter such as violence, racism, motherhood, and self-identity through an autobiographical lens. She is the author of The Undertaker’s Daughter and four previous poetry collections, including Tender, winner of the Paterson Poetry Prize. She is the recipient of two Pushcart Prizes and fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts and the Guggenheim Foundation, among other honors. Derricotte is cofounder of Cave Canem, professor emerita at the University of Pittsburgh, and a chancellor of the Academy of American Poets.

Winner of the 2017 Agnes Lynch Starrett Poetry Prize;
Winner of the 2020 Kate Tufts Discovery Award

Finalist for the 2017 National Book Award for Poetry; Winner of the Lannan Literary Award for Poetry (2017)

Finalist, Lambda Literary Award for Gay Poetry
Finalist, Publishing Triangle's Thom Gunn Award;"Shanahan’s ability to translate precise meditations on personal identity into universal issues of race and ethnicity is spectacular.... We are lucky to have this collection."—Chicago Review of Books; "A master of shaping his dialectic through lyrical groundwork.... Calm and potent."—Los Angeles Review of Books

"Frank X Walker has turned in another brilliant performance, mounting history upon poetry for a thrilling ride." --Frederick Smock, The Louisville Courier-Journal, Oct. 9, 2010

This substantial collection of poems by a longtime, well-known Detroit poet and cultural critic (now living in New York) presents socially and politically insightful poems. In a whole, Just for a Thrill is a massive critique project, a call to action. These are wise insights and earnest warnings from the pen of Geoffrey Jacques, a teacher who understands 'that friends need to be told only what they're ready to hear.'" (MetroTimes)

Winner of the Guggenheim Fellowship (2016)

"Maples' skill as a poet pours through every page of this book. This is difficult material, but she illuminates it with carefully shaped lines and flowing prose poems. Her voice is vivid, urgent. Every line is powerful. Mend is necessary and magnificent." -- New York Journal of Books

“A triumphant collection."
—O Magazine; “A bold, intimate and powerful collection of poems.”
—Ms. Magazine; “Generations of women, fighters all, live and breath in Monet's poetry… this book is a torch in the dark.”
—Frontier Poetry;“A testament to the brilliance of Black women, from the South Side of Chicago and beyond.”
—Bitch Magazine; “This might be THE single poetry collection I am most excited about this year.”
—Bustle

Winner of the Hurston/Wright Legacy Award (2012)

Honored as a "Best Book of 2014" by Library Journal

WINNER OF THE 2018 JAMES LAUGHLIN AWARD; “A strong second work after Revising the Storm that will resonate with any reader interested in the ties that lovingly bind.” ―Library Journal

"A sly observer, Coleman continues to shoplift language to address a gamut of psycho-social ills. . . . The inclusive and experimental quality of Coleman’s voice characterizes a truly American aesthetic." --Black Issues Book Review
“What astounds is the clarity and uniqueness of [Coleman's] perceptions. . . . Highly recommended.” - ―Library Journal;
“A veritable atomic bomb of Brechtian-style ‘verfremdung.’ Ostinato Vamps is Coleman’s most accessible and powerful work to date and my third-choice reading of the year.” - ―Isthmus Books Quarterly

Winner of the 2017 Cave Canem Poetry Prize

Winner of the 2016 Yale Series of Younger Poets prize

"Moving, challenging, and filled with light, Ashley Toliver's Spectra is a wonderful new volume of poetry." - Scott Simon, NPR Weekend Edition

the latest book by author William Evans, founder of Black Nerd Problems. Evans is a long-standing voice in the performance poetry scene, who has performed at venues across the country and been featured on numerous final stages, including the National Poetry Slam and Individual World Poetry Slam.

"When beautiful poetry emerges from its secret abode, we can only hope we have been wise enough to leave our soul's door ajar, and that it will enter and find a home there. I have read [Leonard Slade's] poetry, and I am the better for it, the wiser for it, and the happier for it." --Maya Angelou

Winner of the Voelcker Award (PEN America) (2016)

WINNER OF THE 2020 PULITZER PRIZE FOR POETRY; Finalist for the 2019 National Book Award
"100 Notable Books of the Year," The New York Times Book Review; One Book, One Philadelphia Citywide Reading Program Selection, 2021

Winner of the Colorado Book Award in Poetry (2018)

""Affrilachian innovator and Lannan Fellow Frank X. Walker follows the acclaimed Boffalo Dance: The Journey of York with an even more engaging account of a woefully neglected historical figure whose indispensable work with Lewis and Clark's Expedition of Discovery wasn't compensated at all. When Winter Come: The Ascension of York again divines the thoughts of Captain William Clark's body servant, fleshing out the picture with the voices of York's Nez Perce and slave wives, Sacagewea, and a deeply flawed Captain Clark who breaks an implied promise of manumission." --Foreword Magazine" --

Winner, 2017 Great Lakes Colleges Association New Writers Award (poetry category)
Winner, 2016 BCALA Literary Award (poetry category)
Winner of the 2014 Agnes Lynch Starrett Poetry Prize
Finalist, 2015 NAACP Image Awards (poetry category)

“Pulses with energy. This vibrant collection . . . offers some excellent poems.”
—Library Journal

A poetry collection of “playful and crooning lyricism” from the National Book Award– and Pulitzer Prize–winning author of The Color Purple (Booklist).

A collection of the author's prose and poetry