WINNER OF THE 2020 PULITZER PRIZE FOR POETRYFinalist for the 2019 National Book Award"100 Notable Books of the Year," The New York Times Book ReviewOne Book, One Philadelphia Citywide Reading Program Selection, 2021"By some literary magic—no, it's precision, and honesty—Brown manages to bestow upon even the most public of subjects the most intimate and personal stakes."—Cr...

To read Jericho Brown's poems is to encounter devastating genius' Claudia RankineJericho Brown's The New Testament is a devastating meditation on race, sexuality and contemporary American society by one of the most important new voices in US poetry. In poems of immense clarity, lyricism and skill, Brown shows us a world where disease runs through the body, violence runs through the neighbourhood, and trauma runs through generations. Here Brown makes brilli...

Honored as a "Best Book of 2014" by Library JournalNPR.org writes: “In his second collection, The New Testament, Brown treats disease and love and lust between men, with a gentle touch, returning again and again to the stories of the Bible, which confirm or dispute his vision of real life. 'Every last word is contagious,' he writes, awake to all the implications of that phrase. There is plenty of guilt—survivor’s guilt, sinner’s guilt—and ever-pre...

Jericho Brown’s daring poetry collection The Tradition details the normalization of evil and its history at the intersection of the past and the personal. Brown’s poetic concerns are both broad and intimate, and at their very core a distillation of the incredibly human: What is safety? Who is this nation? Where does freedom truly lie? Poems of fatherhood, legacy, blackness, queerness, worship, and trauma are propelled into stunning clarity by Brown’s mastery, and his invention of ...

An all-star ensemble cast of poets and performers bring to life Nikki Giovanni’s extraordinary final collection—a landmark of American literature!For decades, Nikki Giovanni’s poetry has been at the forefront of American culture. The New Book is a towering work of protest against the divisions of our time, leavened with moments of joy and reflection about her indelible legacy, her family history, and the small pleasures of her richly lived life.Wit...

**LONGLISTED FOR THE NATIONAL BOOK AWARD FOR POETRYWINNER OF THE A. POULIN, JR. POETRY PRIZEA LIBRARY JOURNAL BEST BOOK OF 2017 SELECTION: POETRY & LITERATUREON NPR BOOKS'S LIST OF "POETRY TO PAY ATTENTION TO: 2017'S BEST VERSE"A PUBLISHERS WEEKLY 2017 HOLIDAY GIFT GUIDE SELECTION**In this ferocious and tender debut, Chen Chen investigates inherited forms of love and family—the strained relationship between a mother and son, the cos...

The definitive introduction to the work of 'the bravest of us . . . the universal poet' (Alice Walker)For the poet and activist June Jordan, neither poetry nor activism could easily be disentangled from the other. Her storied career came to chronicle a living, breathing history of the struggles that defined the USA in the latter half of the twentieth century; and her poetry, accordingly, put its dazzling stylistic range to use in exploring issues of gender, race, i...

Mary Jean Chan and Andrew McMillan's luminous anthology, 100 Queer Poems, is a celebration of thrilling contemporary voices and visionary poets of the past. Featuring Elizabeth Bishop, Langston Hughes, Ocean Vuong, Carol Ann Duffy, Kae Tempest and many more.* A Guardian Best Poetry Book of the Year ** Shortlisted for the Books Are My Bag Readers Awards *Encompassing both the flowering of queer poetry over the past f...

Borrowing the title of a traditional African American hymn, Standing in the Need of Prayer poetically describes the vulnerability of black men and the ongoing injustice they encounter in America. Noted poet, Nikki Giovanni speaks to participants of the Million Man March, Tupac's mother, and expresses her own trepidation felt in response to late-night callers who may or may not be the bearers of tragic news. Her writings are bookended with poems by DXTR Spits (Jordan Holmes) as well as Puli...

A harbinger of the Harlem Renaissance first published in 1922, this collection of poignant, lyrical poems explores Claude McKay’s yearning for his Jamaican homeland and the bitter plight of Black and African Caribbean people in America—now with an introduction by Pulitzer Prize–winning poet Jericho Brown.ONE OF THE MOST ANTICIPATED BOOKS OF 2022—VultureWith pure heart, passion, and honesty, Claude McKay offers an acute reflection o...

A New York Times Best Poetry Book of 2024Drawing from all six of his collections, The Selected Shepherd offers a new retrospective on the work of an important and sometimes controversial Black, gay poet. Although well known for his erotic poems about white men, Shepherd also wrote consistently about the natural world and its endangerment and his grief over his mother’s death. Presented in both publication order and the order in which they originally appeared withi...

**LONGLISTED FOR THE NATIONAL BOOK AWARD FOR POETRYWINNER OF THE THOM GUNN AWARD FOR GAY POETRYWINNER OF THE GLCA NEW WRITERS AWARDWINNER OF THE A. POULIN, JR. POETRY PRIZEA LIBRARY JOURNAL BEST BOOK OF 2017 SELECTION: POETRY & LITERATUREON NPR BOOKS'S LIST OF "POETRY TO PAY ATTENTION TO: 2017'S BEST VERSE"**In this ferocious and tender debut, Chen Chen investigates inherited forms of love and family—the strained relationship between...