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Sarah Kay

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Sarah Kay is an American poet. Known for her spoken word poetry, Kay is the founder and co-director of Project V.O.I.C.E., founded in 2004, a group dedicated to using spoken word an educational and inspirational tool.
8 books on the list
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The Book of Delights book cover
The Book of Delights
Essays
Ross Gay - 2019-02-12
Goodreads Rating
Ross Gay’s The Book of Delights is a genre-defying book of essays—some as short as a paragraph; some as long as five pages—that record the small joys that occurred in one year, from birthday to birthday, and that we often overlook in our busy lives. His is a meditation on delight that takes a clear-eyed view of the complexities, even the terrors, i...
Sarah Kay
2021-02-26T01:53:12.000Z
@ChazEngelkes Have you read “Book of Delights” yet? Highly recommend! (I recommend Ross Gay for most situations) Let me think for more joy and smiles. But that book is really lovely as a place to start.      source
Also recommended by
Gretchen Rubin
We Were All Someone Else Yesterday book cover
We Were All Someone Else Yesterday
Omar Holmon - 2020-05-12
Goodreads Rating
A hybrid text that deals most urgently in the articulation of growth and grief. After the loss of his mother, Omar Holmon re-learns how to live by immersing himself in popular culture, becoming well-versed in using the many modes of pop culture to spell out his emotions. This book is made up of both poems and essays, drenched in both sadness and un...
Sarah Kay
2021-01-24T16:56:02.000Z
I had been waiting literal years for @OmarHolmon’s book WE WERE ALL SOMEONE ELSE YESTERDAY, & I already know so many of the poems in it so well, & it *still* surprised me & made me cry. Omar is so talented at braiding humor & grief, it’s masterful.      source
1919 book cover
1919
Eve L. Ewing - 2019-06-01
Goodreads Rating
Poetic reflections on race, class, violence, segregation, and the hidden histories that shape our divided urban landscapes.The Chicago Race Riot of 1919, the most intense of the riots that comprised the “Red Summer” of violence across the nation’s cities, is an event that has shaped the last century but is widely unknown. In 1919, award-winning poe...
Sarah Kay
2020-07-30T14:54:49.000Z
If you do not already own Eve's book 1919, that is something you should add to this list! It is an incredible example of a book of poetry that is immensely moving & powerful, while also being historical & educational !      source
The January Children book cover
The January Children
Safia Elhillo - 2017-03-01
Goodreads Rating
In her dedication Safia Elhillo writes, “The January Children are the generation born in Sudan under British occupation, where children were assigned birth years by height, all given the birth date January 1.” What follows is a deeply personal collection of poems that describe the experience of navigating the postcolonial world as a stranger in one...
Sarah Kay
2020-06-22T16:04:35.000Z
You should absolutely go listen to Safia read this poem in her own voice: & then you should absolutely go purchase Safia's book, which is one of my Hall of Fame favorite poetry books of all time:      source
Good Grief book cover
Good Grief
50th Anniversary Edition
Granger E. Westberg - 2010-09-30 (first published in 1961)
Goodreads Rating
Many people experience grief as the result of loss. This book describes what happens to us whenever we lose someone or something important. We all need a better understanding of the small griefs in life as well as those larger grief experiences that can overwhelm us. Here is a volume to be kept close at hand. It can be used over the years as you en...
Sarah Kay
2019-12-11T15:12:14.000Z
@mafiasafia “Weather’s Here, Wish You Were Beautiful” by @RachelMcKibbens & “Good Grief” by @stevieedwards87 are two of my all time favorite titles (poem/book, respectively)      source
They Can't Kill Us Until They Kill Us book cover
They Can't Kill Us Until They Kill Us
Hanif Abdurraqib - 2017-11-07
Goodreads Rating
In an age of confusion, fear, and loss, Hanif Abdurraqib's is a voice that matters. Whether he's attending a Bruce Springsteen concert the day after visiting Michael Brown's grave, or discussing public displays of affection at a Carly Rae Jepsen show, he writes with a poignancy and magnetism that resonates profoundly.In the wake of the nightclub at...
Sarah Kay
2017-11-07T04:43:45.000Z
By the way, I can’t possibly recommend this book more highly, & I also request that everyone only take photos of it like this, thank you. 🐺📘      source
Also recommended by
Jamie Kilstein
Blood Dazzler book cover
Blood Dazzler
Patricia Smith - 2008-09-01
Goodreads Rating
In minute-by-minute detail, Patricia Smith tracks Hurricane Katrina as it transforms into a full-blown mistress of destruction. From August 23, 2005, the day Tropical Depression Twelve developed, through August 28 when it became a Category Five storm with its “scarlet glare fixed on the trembling crescent,” to the heartbreaking aftermath, these poe...
Sarah Kay
2017-08-29T17:33:42.000Z
Patricia Smith's book about Hurricane Katrina, "Blood Dazzler" is full of the most devastating & gorgeous poems. This one haunts me, always.      source
Dark Sparkler book cover
Dark Sparkler
Amber Tamblyn - 2015-04-07
Goodreads Rating
The lives of more than twenty-five actresses lost before their time—from Marilyn Monroe to Brittany Murphy—explored in haunting, provocative new work by an acclaimed poet and actress.Amber Tamblyn is both an award-winning film and television actress and an acclaimed poet. As such she is deeply fascinated-and intimately familiar—with the toll exacte...