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.
About the Author
Sonia Sanchez is an award-winning poet, activist, scholar, and formerly the Laura Carnell Professor of English and Women's Studies at Temple University, and is currently a poet-in-residence there. She is the author of sixteen books, including Like the Singing Coming off the Drums, Does Your House Have Lions?, Wounded in the House of a Friend, Shake Loose My Skin, and Morning Haiku.
What People Are Saying
“Sonia Sanchez’s poetry is a must for all readers. Period.” Essence
“With an unblinking and critical poet’s eye, Sonia Sanchez has been setting her readers straight, telling the ‘terrible beauty,’ and reflecting images in ways that simultaneously solicit tears and laughter . . . . She has not given up the struggle to let her poetry be what she refers to as a ‘call to arms’ for her people.” Juanita Johnson-Bailey, Ms.
“Only a poet with an innocent heart can exorcise so much pain with so much beauty.” Isabel Allende
“Sonia Sanchez is a lion in literature’s forest. When she writes she roars, and when she sleeps other creatures walk gingerly. . . . This world is a better place because of Sonia Sanchez: move livable, more laughable, more manageable. I wish millions of people knew that some of the joy in their lives comes from the fact that Sonia Sanchez is writing poetry.” Maya Angelou
“Her songs of destruction and loss scrape the heart; her praise songs thunder and revitalize. We need these songs for our journey together into the next century.” Joy Harjo