Sonia Sanchez Boeken

Winner Gish Prize for Lifetime Achievement A representative collection of the life work of the much-honored poet and a founder of the Black Arts movement, spanning the 4 decades of her literary career. Gathering highlights from all of Sonia Sanchez’s poetry, this compilation is sure to inspire love and community engagement among her legions of fans. Beginning with her earliest work, including poems from her first volume, Homecoming (1969), through to 2019, the poet has collected her favorite work in all forms of verse, from Haiku to excerpts from book-length narratives. Her lifelong dedication to the causes of Black liberation, social equality, and women’s rights is evident throughout, as is her special attention to youth in poems addressed to children and young adults. As Maya Angelou so aptly put it: “Sonia Sanchez is a lion in literature’s forest. When she writes she roars, and when she sleeps other creatures walk gingerly.”

Focusing on the complexities of women's experiences, this work delves into the themes of pain, self-doubt, and anger. The author, a prominent figure in the Black Arts Movement and recipient of the 2018 Wallace Stevens Award, provides a profound exploration of these emotions, offering insights into the struggles women face. Through evocative language and powerful imagery, the book captures the essence of resilience and the quest for identity amidst societal challenges.

From a leading writer of the Black Arts Movement, poems of commemoration and loss for readers of all ages   A collection of haiku that celebrates the gifts of life and mourns the deaths of revered African American figures in the worlds of music, literature, art, and activism.

Winner of the American Book Award A classic of the Black Arts Movement brought back to life in a refreshed edition “A lion in literature’s forest. When she writes she roars, and when she sleeps other creatures walk gingerly.”—Maya Angelou Originally published in 1984, this collection of prose, prose poems, and lyric verses is as fresh and radical today as it was then. Sonia Sanchez, the premiere poet of the Black Arts Movement, shows the “razor blades” in clenched in her teeth in these powerful pieces.

This work offers a captivating journey through the complexities of love and desire, blending personal reflections with broader societal themes. The author, recognized with the American Poetry Society's 2018 Wallace Stevens Award, skillfully navigates the interplay between private emotions and public expressions of passion, creating a rich tapestry of experiences and insights.

From the American Poetry Society's 2018 Wallace Stevens Award–winner, this is an epic poem on kin estranged, the death of a brother from AIDS, and the possibility of reconciliation and love in the face of loss.