Black Poets
A list of poetry by Black poets recommended by staff at The Seattle Public Library.
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Forget It
Anastacia Reneé's FORGET IT dances on the grave of the lost—fiery tempest, a phoenix of language and presence. -- publisher's copy
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Ordinary Cruelty
While questioning the role of elder, mentor, mother in the face of losing those figures, Flame details the unrelenting nature of parenthood through the cycles of grief. Her poems exuberantly rejoice in the brown skin of the female body, while soberly acknowledging the societal dangers of claiming such skin as home. -- publisher's copy
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Kohnjehr Woman
In a series of concise, orally grounded and visually vivid poems, [Lara] introduces the mysterious avenger, Shee, who upends daily life, and all the lives, on an antebellum plantation. -- publisher's copy
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Wild Beauty
These powerfully swinging, jabbing, lamenting, testifying, and protesting poems deliver an array of voices sharing experiences sensual and violent, personal and communal, all catalyzed by the traumas and tragedies of racism and sexism and the transcendence of art, love, and hope. -- Booklist
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The Complete Works of Pat Parker
The Complete Works of Pat Parker allows us to see the author as a constantly working artist and thinker, as well as an important part of the gay rights, women’s liberation, and black civil rights movements. -- Lambda Literary
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The Complete Poetry
Throughout her illustrious career in letters, Maya Angelou gifted, healed, and inspired the world with her words. Now the beauty and spirit of those words live on in this new and complete collection of poetry that reflects and honors the writer's remarkable life. -- publisher's copy
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The Weary Blues
Nearly ninety years after its first publication, this celebratory edition of The Weary Blues reminds us of the stunning achievement of Langston Hughes, who was just twenty-four at its first appearance. -- publisher's copy
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Blues Divine
Blues Divine is at heart an ancestral mixtape and tribute. These poems have been creative salvations, signposts, people's history and testimonies. Inside is a journey of many intersections and switchbacks, fast running rivers and swamplands, as well as those sacred places where sun splits the sky wide open. -- publisher's copy
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Citizen
Combining poetry, essay, and images from media and contemporary art, Rankine’s poetics capture the urgency of her subject matter. -- Publishers Weekly
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The Essential Gwendolyn Brooks
By turns compassionate, angry, satiric, and psychologically penetrating, Gwendolyn Brooks's poetry retains its power to move and surprise. -- publisher's copy
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