Books like Chasing Utopia by Nikki Giovanni

Gwendolyn Brooks’ "Selected Poems (P.S.)" gathers key verses from her earlier collections – "A Street in Bronzeville," "Annie Allen," and "The Bean Eaters" – alongside new selections, showcasing her acclaimed African‑American poetic voice.

**2014 da Vinci Eye Finalist** **ForeWord Reviews‘ 2012 Book of the Year Award Finalist** **2013 Hurston/Wright Legacy Award Finalist** “The message in the so-sick-it muse ic is all on the cover, O’Jays style. The bills are pressing but this book (a We) can help you (Now!) gain a stamp of heritage, your own postal traveling shoes, in the office of International (if not Domestic) Acceptance especially if the real tradition, a mature Langston Hughes in a hat, frames your introduction.” —*Boston Review* “Hand feels Simone’s life as if she herself is living it; as if Simone’s ghosts have leapt into her—and she makes artful poems as their hearts beat in her own body.” —*The Mom Egg* “Hand varies the form and voices in her poems deftly into a contemporary blues that speaks to a woman’s creative challenges within the streams of family that flows in unpredictable rhythms.” —*On the Seawall* “…like ‘two souls in a duet.'” —*Library Journal* “When a poem is good, I feel it in my body…a commotion in my pit…this is a collection of commotion.” —*Yes, Poetry* “Monica A. Hand’s *me and Nina* is a beautiful book by a soul survivor. In these poems she sings deep songs of violated intimacy and the hard work of repair. The poems are unsentimental, blood-red, and positively true, note for note, like the singing of Nina Simone herself. Hand has written a moving, deeply satisfying, and unforgettable book.” —Elizabeth Alexander “In *me and Nina* Monica A. Hand depicts, as Nina Simone did, what it is to be gifted and Black in America. She shifts dynamically through voices and forms homemade, received and re-imagined to conjure the music (and Muses) of art and experience. This is a debut fiercely illuminated by declaration and song.” —Terrance Hayes “Monica A. Hand sings us a crushed velvet requiem of Nina Simone. She plumbs Nina’s mysterious bluesline while recounting the scars of her own overcoming. Hand joins the chorus of shouters like Patricia Smith and Wanda Coleman in this searchlight of a book, bearing her voice like a torch for all we’ve gained and lost in the heat of good song.” ―Tyehimba Jess

**33rd Annual Northern California Book Award Nominee** “*Black Crow Dress* is narrative, yet it subverts narrative in its deliberate cultivation of the fragment; its rhythms are those of the blues and the latter’s abbreviated style, and the thump thump of the work song. *Black Crow Dress* is, indeed, a chorus of voices we have too seldom heard and listened to.” —*Drunken Boat* “. . .a stunning collection that evokes a tragic, unjust world; Johnson has a gift for metaphor and narrative that builds throughout.” —*Library Journal*, starred review “. . .*Black Crow Dress* is a vital addition to any contemporary poetry assortment.” —*Midwest Book Review* “These poems move forward like a novel in verse with a real understanding of the differences between the past and history. Or, as Johnson herself says in the opening poem, ‘Each one is hungry for a voice & music to re-bloom.’ This is a poet the best readers will be reading for the rest of their lives.” —Jericho Brown “Roxane Beth Johnson reminds us the poet’s inscrutable work is to listen. Her abiding presence creates a lamplit space to commune with the ghosts of her ensalved ancestors and to breathe them onto the contemporary page. The result is startling: narratives tender and haunting, of an unforgettable intimacy. These voices were in the room with me; I felt them in my body.” —Jennifer K. Sweeney

Evie Shockley’s *The New Black* blends formal verse with thoughtful reflections on African American identity, history, and the evolving experience of racism in contemporary America.

A bold exploration of pregnancy, childbirth, and artistic expression through verse, prose, and dialogue.

A collection of 32 poems by Nikki Giovanni that explore various facets of the African American experience.

An all‑inclusive hardcover anthology of Maya Angelou’s poetry, featuring her celebrated works such as "On the Pulse of Morning".

Through 46 powerful spirituals, Nikki Giovanni traces the African‑American experience, weaving history, music, and memory into an accessible juvenile nonfiction text.

A vibrant collection of more than twenty new poems by Nikki Giovanni that celebrate love in its bold, romantic and sometimes adventurous forms, blending wit, passion and cultural touchstones.

A comprehensive collection of poems by Nikki Giovanni, capturing her voice from the late 1960s Civil Rights era through the end of the twentieth century.

A complete, chronological anthology of Nikki Giovanni’s poetry from 1968–1998, featuring her first seven volumes, biographical notes, an author afterword, and extensive indexes.

An anthology of twenty‑two interviews with poet Nikki Giovanni spanning two decades, showcasing her evolution from a Black Arts Movement voice to a celebrated literary icon.