Black Poets
A list of poetry by Black poets recommended by staff at The Seattle Public Library.
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Love Child's Hotbed of Occasional Poetry
National Book Award--winner Finney (Head Off & Split) returns with her first collection in a decade, artfully interweaving memories from her life with episodes from throughout black history. -- Publishers Weekly
Format: Book
Availability: Available
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Make Me Rain
Giovanni (Chasing Utopia: A Hybrid) celebrates in her poignant 20th collection art as redemptive of traumas past and present, illuminating the ways in which "the blues is our encyclopedia." -- Publishers Weekly
Format: Book
Availability: Available
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Seeing the Body
With astonishing frankness and detail, Griffiths anticipates, experiences, reexperiences and works to meaningfully incorporate her mother’s memory and death into the everyday fabric of life. -- NPR
Format: Book
Availability: Available
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The Age of Phillis
In this vast, imaginative opus on Black female genius, Fanonne Jeffers excavates the figure of Phillis Wheatley Peters, the first Black woman to publish a book in America. -- NPR
Format: Book
Availability: Available
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The Selected Works of Audre Lorde
Readers new to Lorde's work couldn't ask for a better introduction, and those already familiar will find this an ideal collection of her greatest hits. -- Publishers Weekly
Format: Book
Availability: Available
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Finna
In four sprawling, intertwining sections, Marshall explores masculinity, the effects of community and familial relationships, and the role of Black language in imagining a livable future. -- Publishers Weekly
Format: Book
Availability: Available
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The Malevolent Volume
Winner of the 2018 National Book Award, Reed (Indecency) cyclones through a dreamscape full of sorrow and protest in his enchanting and enigmatic second collection. -- Publishers Weekly
Format: Book
Availability: Available
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Homie
Smith (Don't Call Us Dead) presents an electrifying, unabashedly queer ode to friendship and community in their exuberant and mournful second collection. -- Publishers Weekly
Format: Book
Availability: Available
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A Fortune for your Disaster
This resonant second collection from cultural critic, essayist, and poet Abdurraqib grapples with physical and emotional acts of violence and their political context. -- Publishers Weekly
Format: Book
Availability: All copies in use
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Dispatch
Weighed down by the “brutal choreography” of violence against black, queer, and trans bodies, the poet reestablishes buoyancy through will and formidable artistry. -- Publishers Weekly
Format: Book
Availability: Available
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