Family Poetry

Author Daniel L. Walker has written many poems about difficult times he experienced in his life. His debut poetry novel 2015 Mary Ballard Award Nominee titled: God's Rain talks about his personal demons, his marriage to co-author Teirra Walker, and dealing with rumors that his father allegedly molested a family member. Just as life began to look promising he would face tragedy with the untimely passing of his wife Teirra N. Walker.

Senior Paul Wagoner walks into his school with a stolen gun, threatens his girlfriend, Emily Beam, and then takes his own life. Soon after, angry and guilt-ridden Emily is sent to a boarding school in Amherst, Massachusetts, where two quirky fellow students and the spirit of Emily Dickinson offer helping hands. But it is up to Emily Beam to heal her own damaged self, to find the good behind the bad, hope inside the despair, and springtime under the snow.

One of the many joys of Christmas comes from the traditions associated with it. Best-selling author Caroline Kennedy drew on her own family's traditions to create this charming collection of favorite stories, poems, and writings that celebrate the holiday spirit.

I often think about our youth. It was indeed a strangely shaped toy, with a short body dragging a very long tail, spreading like wings, refusing to leave. A lamp is still on, but a song has been sung. A play has not ended, a love has reached the end of the road. We salute you. And the new curtain is about to be drawn. Maybe that's what human life is like, ending, starting, starting again, then ending. No matter what, we have to shoulder our suffering and happiness, moving forward, don't turn around.

“Il libro della follia” è la prima traduzione integrale in italiano di "The Book of Folly", che Anne Sexton diede alle stampe nel 1972. Lo stile confessionale che aveva reso celebre l’autrice, fruttandole nel 1967 il premio Pulitzer, giunge qui alla piena maturità trasformandosi nell’allegoria di un Gran Teatro psichedelico. La Signora Benestante che scrive occasionalmente versi rispettando le forme metriche lascia il posto, definitivamente e consapevolmente, al personaggio della Poetessa Martire della società benpensante e all’aspirante suicida, in un rovesciamento parodico dei valori patriarcali.

En lyrisk og temperamentsfuld samling om grøn uld og om at løsrive sig fra rollen som ung pige uden at vide, hvad man ellers kan være.

"Med Nye" balancer griber Caspar Eric tilbage til sin tidligere digtsamling "Nike", hvor han i 2015 skrev om at være en handicappet krop i verden. I sin nye samling, der bærer genrebetegnelsen 'handicapdigte', italesætter Caspar Eric handicappet mere kropsligt og direkte, og samfundets stigmatisering og diskrimination af ‘det anderledes’ problematiseres med poppet præcision. Samtidig leder digtene efter nye fysiske og poetiske måder at findes i verden på og måske også efter et sprog, der kan røre os — med humor, power og et skarpt blik på krydsfeltet mellem det private og det politiske.

A cross between humorous poetry and memoir, Sonnets from Suburbia features Lady Penelope (aka actress Penny Peyser) serving up a funny take on modern day life in Shakespearean sonnet form.

The women in Allison Adair’s debut collection—luminous and electric from the first line to the last—live in places that have been excavated for gold and precious ores. They understand the nature of being hollowed out, of being “the planet’s stone / core as it tries to carve out one secret place and fails.” And so, as these poems take us from the midst of the Civil War to our current era, they chart fairy tales that are at once unsettling and painfully familiar, never forgetting that cruelty compels us to search for tenderness.

In a working-class family that considers sensitivity a “fatal diagnosis,” how does a child grow up to be a poet? What happens when a body “meant to bend & breed” opts not to, then finds itself performing the labor of care regardless? Why do we think our “common griefs” so singular? Bad Hobby is a hard-earned meditation on questions like these—a dreamscape speckled with swans, ghosts, and weather updates.

In these poems, Kleber-Diggs names delight in the same breath as loss. Moments suffused with love—teaching his daughter how to drive; watching his grandmother bake a cake; waking beside his beloved to ponder trumpet mechanics—couple with moments of wrenching grief—a father’s life ended by a gun; mourning children draped around their mother’s waist; Freddie Gray’s death in police custody. Even in the refuge-space of dreams, a man calls the police on his Black neighbor.

This book is based on the life experiences of a little girl who had to grow up fast. She was a mother at the age of 14. She had an apartment and adult bills at the age of 15. She struggled in an urban environment to do the right thing, but kept doing the wrong until she had enough experiences in life to guide her through her storm. Learning by experiences and not giving up, today she is a successful business owner, and her daughter is also a successful business owner. She has two beautiful, respectful, and smart granddaughters.

From Lincoln Center’s inaugural poet-in-residence comes this unflinching collection that intricately mines the experience of being a Black woman in America. A highly anticipated volume from critically acclaimed poet Mahogany L. Browne, Chrome Valley is at once a luminous hymn and a battle cry. Spanning the course of her own life as well as embodying centuries of virulent history, this collection pays solemn tribute to the women who came before her.

Renia White is a first-time author. Her debut collection, Casual Conversation, was chosen by Aracelis Girmay as a Blessing the Boats Selection. Named in honor of Lucille Clifton’s National Book Award-winning collection, Blessing the Boats Selections spotlight new poetry collections by women poets of color. Previous Blessing the Boats Selections include Letters to a Young Brown Girl by Barbara Jane Reyes and Year of the Dog by Deborah Paredez.

Clara Jean Beaman Walker was the third of seven children born to Cora and Clarence Beaman in Knoxville, TN, in 1910. Considered to be “Little Mother” by her siblings, she always gave her best to her birth family and to the family she created with her husband, John Albert Walker. Three sons came from this union: Johnny, Clarence, and Henry. A teacher at heart, Jean saw each child before her and helped them navigate home economics, English, and realizing their potential.

Cynthia has devoted her life to nursing, inside and outside the walls of the hospital. Her dedication and commitment to the nurses of yesterday as well as the nurses of today and tomorrow are held close to her heart, mind, and prayers each day. This book exemplifies her compassion for the art of nursing. Her heart beats for the nurses, the patients, and their families. Cynthia believes that if mentored and nurtured, nurses can be the light in the darkest moments of a person’s life. Her poems give a nurse the perfect dose of inspiration, hope, and comfort.

The purpose for which I wrote the following poem(s) is because they assisted me in expressing the feelings, thoughts, and emotions which I was having at the time while I walked through a relatively challenging period of my life. I hope to inspire other young Black males to also express their thoughts, talk about their feelings, and to hopefully try to make the world a better place. Allow yourself as the listener to think of your own perspective regarding these topics, issues, and subject matters.

When I was in the fourth grade, we had a map of Vietnam on our kitchen wall. When my mother received an airmail letter, she would walk to the map and move one of the stickpins to a new location to see if one of her brothers was in harm’s way in some new hot spot or battle. I spent a lot of time worrying about that map. I had five uncles in Southeast Asia during the Vietnam War. This is a book about going off to war, a book about coming back home, and a book about those who are left behind. I dedicate this book to those voices, my family, and every voice calling out at times of war.

No Sweet Without Brine is both a soulful and celebratory collection that summons sticky sweet memories with an acrid aftertaste of deep thought. Satisfying moments are captured in odes to Idris Elba’s dulcet tones on a meditation app and the satisfaction of half-priced Entenmann’s poundcake; in childlike observations of parental Black love, the coveted female form on Jet Magazine covers, and the desire for Zamunda to be a real place full of Black joy.

"My name is Colette. This book is about me. Who am I? To be perfectly honest, I'm not exactly sure who I am. I guess you could say I'm the 15-year-old daughter of an annoyingly famous movie star. Or maybe I'm the 18-year-old daughter of a famous movie star's stand-in. Or maybe I'm the thousand-year-old daughter of a vampire.... Having trouble guessing which one of these stories is true? Join the club. My friends have a joke about me: 'How can you tell if Colette is lying? Her mouth is open.'"