Geter’s vivid debut invokes the pain of familial dislocation, illness, and death, exacerbated by the twin plagues of xenophobia and racism. The marriage of Geter’s parents (a Nigerian Muslim woman and a former Southern Baptist black man) saw her family move from Africa to various inhospitable locations in the U.S.: “my father leans down the barrel of a shotgun/ house/ and looks in both directions.” “Lesson one: there’s no god/ in Alabama,” Geter writes in “Alabama Parable.” Many of the narratives are moving, and the mother-daughter dynamic is central to the collection: “In America, no one would say her name/ correctly. I watched it rust/ beneath the salt of so many.” There is joy to be found in Muslim prayer and the Hausa language, but every blessing has an underside: Nigeria is “the land where my family will ask/ why I haven’t a husband.” Racism is addressed in poems recounting the murders of Eric Garner, Tamir Rice, and Michael Brown, and personal compulsions offer their own dangers: “I’ve always been/ attracted to little/ violences.” It is this violence, captured in rich, musical language, that command such power.
Tina Chang's HYBRIDA: One of NPR's Best Books of 2019! /
HOORAY! Tina Chang’s HYBRIDA is one of NPR’s Best Books of 2019
HYBRIDA and THE OCTOPUS MUSEUM: Named PW's BEST BOOKS OF 2019 /
Congratulations to Tina Chang and Brenda Shaughnessy!
Library Journal calls Julia Guez's debut "intriguing" /
Starting Fall with Great Poetry: 13 Collections from Award Winners and Newcomers Alike
VERDICT At once moody and meditative, cheeky and bright, Guez’s poems will satisfy many readers, matching their own sense of upheaval.
"Tracing the Horse" in the New York Times! /
New and Noteworthy: Diana Marie Delgado’s “Tracing the Horse”. “Most nights I’m face to face with the stars,” reads the first line in Delgado’s first book, which details a family’s struggles with addiction and prison. “No one is more afraid of this than me.”
Publishers Weekly calls Julia Guez's debut "expansive" /
“In this direct and imaginative debut, Guez weaves disparate images to grapple with the stages of modern life…This expansive debut helps readers to see the world and the stages of life afresh. (Sept.)”.
The Washington Post reviews HYBRIDA /
'Hybrida'
Tina Chang’s “Hybrida” (Norton) opens with these powerful lines about her son: “Everywhere I look I see him,/ I have a right to fear for him,/ though I have no right to his color./ His blackness is his to own and what will/ my mouth say of that sweetness.” As she reflects on the threats her son — and to a lesser extent, her daughter — faces, Chang asks evocative questions about identity and the complicated inheritance of anyone “who has ever been born of mixed race.” She also considers the language of motherhood and the “fusion of artistic forms made manifest through the lens/ of protection.” In the process, Chang, the poet laureate of Brooklyn, weaves powerful narratives and uses various poetic forms to create a momentous landscape.
Publishers Weekly reviews Tracing the Horse /
Delgado’s vulnerable, deep exploration of the self is memorable."
Mother Language: A Q&A with Tina Chang in Poets & Writers /
“Poet, activist, editor, educator: One finds Tina Chang wearing as many hats in her daily life as there are layers of identity in her poetic work. Born in Oklahoma to Chinese immigrants, Chang was a year old when her family moved to New York City, not long after which she and her brother moved to Taiwan to live with relatives for two years. Perhaps it’s this early history that informs Chang’s idea of “the porous nature of boundaries—geographic, cultural, and metaphoric,” which she says has both evaded and invaded her imagination.”
Announcing the National Student Poets: Class of 2019 /
Thrilled to celebrate five high school student poets from across the U.S., who have been selected to serve as poetry ambassadors for one year. Congrats, Class of 2019!
National Student Poets in VULTURE /
For the Country’s Most Promising Teen Poets, Poetry Is Activism
It’s that truth that makes government programs like this one so vital, regardless of the current administration’s palpable disdain for the arts and, well, pretty much everything this group of poets cares about. But the fact is that they will be doing the hard work of poetry and activism long after their tenure as National Student Poets has ended. They don’t need government agencies to validate their work. All they, and we, really need is for us to listen.
Sarah Gambito's LOVES YOU reviewed in the New York Times /
“Anthony Bourdain urged travelers to eat the traditional dishes of other countries because to do so is the best way to take in other people’s culture. In “Loves You,” her third collection, Gambito pursues that idea with a vengeance.”
The Slowdown podcast features "Introduction to Patriarchy" by Chelsea Rathburn /
LISTEN to US Poet Laureate Tracy K. Smith read Chelsea Rathburn’s “Introduction to Patriarchy”, from her collection Still Life with Mother and Knife.
Chelsea Rathburn's collection in the New York Times! /
We loved seeing Still Life with Mother and Knife in the New York Times “New & Noteworthy” section last week! Bravo, Chelsea!
National Student Poets Head to Portland for AWP and Beyond /
"The Octopus Museum" named one of Bookriot's '50 Must-Read Poetry Collections for 2019" /
These heartbreaking, terrified poems are the battle cry of a woman who is fighting for the survival of the world she loves, and a stirring exhibition of who we are as a civilization. — Bookriot
"Loves You" gets a rave review in The Washington Post! /
Bravo, Sarah Gambito! We loved seeing this review of LOVES YOU in The Washington Post!
“In this distinctive, highly anticipated third book, Gambito challenges readers to consider what sustains and nurtures them.”
Jaswinder Bolina, Chelsea Rathburn, and Sarah Gambito featured in NPR's 2019 Poetry Preview /
Congratulations to three Forsythe PR authors, Chelsea Rathburn (Still Life with Mother and Knife, LSU Press); Sarah Gambito (Loves You, Persea), and Jaswinder Bolina (The 44th of July, Omnidawn) — all were included in Craig Morgan Teicher’s 2019 Poetry Preview “I Reject Walls”.