Description:
An all-star ensemble cast of poets and performers bring to life Nikki Giovanni's extraordinary final collection--a landmark of American literature!
For decades, Nikki Giovanni's poetry has been at the forefront of American culture. The New Book is a towering work of protest against the divisions of our time, leavened with moments of joy and reflection about her indelible legacy, her family history, and the small pleasures of her richly lived life.
With this collection, which includes brief letters and short prose from her life as well as poetry, Giovanni reaffirms her place as a giant of literature, a canny truth-teller, an indispensable radical orator, and one of America's preeminent cultural critics. It is a book to be savored, and shared.
Readers on this audiobook include: Kwame Alexander, Cheryl Boyce-Taylor, Jericho Brown, Tabitha Brown, Mahogany L. Browne, Rio Cortez, Virginia Fowler, Nikki Giovanni, Amanda Gorman, Taraji P. Henson, Nancy Johnson, Aja Naomi King, January LaVoy, Robin Miles, Nicole Sealey, Patricia Smith, Bahni Turpin, Renee Watson, and Kevin Young.
"If there was a need for poetry that galvanized and inspired, there was also a demand for poetry that comforted and unified -- and Ms. Giovanni provided on both counts." -- The Washington Post
Brief description: Patricia Smith is an inductee of the American Academy of Arts & Sciences, a recipient of the Ruth Lilly Poetry Prize for Lifetime Achievement, and a winner of the National Book Award for Poetry. She is the author of nine acclaimed books of poetry, including Unshuttered; Incendiary Art, finalist for the 2018 Pulitzer Prize and winner of the 2018 Kingsley and Kate Tufts Poetry Award, the 2017 Los Angeles Times Book Prize, and the 2018 NAACP Image Award; Shoulda Been Jimi Savannah, winner of the Lenore Marshall Poetry Prize from the Academy of American Poets; and Blood Dazzler, a National Book Award finalist. A Guggenheim Fellow, a National Endowment for the Arts grant recipient, a finalist for the Neustadt International Prize for Literature, and a four-time individual champion of the National Poetry Slam, Smith is a creative writing professor in the Lewis Center for the Arts at Princeton University and a former distinguished professor at the City University of New York. She lives in New Jersey with her husband.