poetry – Equal Opportunity Reader

Last While In Books: I’ve Mentioned Most of This Before.

A light skinned Black woman wearing a white eyelet frock, a big Afro, and funky neon yellow eyeliner sits by a window, reading a hardback book

The struggle continues, but so does the printing press, fellow readers. Without further ado, here are some tidbits of interesting diverse bookish news I’ve come across lately. And there it is, fellow readers–a roundup of books to read, thoughts to chase, and writers to pay attention to. As always, thank you for visiting, please rememberContinue reading “Last While In Books: I’ve Mentioned Most of This Before.”

[REVIEW] The Collected Poetry of Nikki Giovanni, by Nikki Giovanni

The Kindle cover of The Collected Poetry of Nikki Giovanni, depicting a black and white line drawing of a book, rests on a squishy yellow cushion

(This should be on your bookshelf if it isn’t already. Find it here.) we all start/as a speck/nobody notices us/but some may hope/we’re there When I was small, I stumbled upon a poem that made me feel like I was 10 feet tall. It gave me pride in my African ancestors, pride in being BlackContinue reading “[REVIEW] The Collected Poetry of Nikki Giovanni, by Nikki Giovanni”

Last Year In Books: Words I Adored In 2023

A collage of the 5 books I adored this year

(Purchase these and other books I read this year here.) 2024 is only fourteen days away. In a total departure from the near-panic of previous years, I think I’m totally ready for it. I do hear that there’s this thing called Christmas sometime in between now and the new year that I’m not at allContinue reading “Last Year In Books: Words I Adored In 2023”

[REVIEW] Things You May Find Hidden In My Ear, by Mosab Abu Toha

The Kindle cover of Things You May Find HIdden In My Ear, depicting a home viewed through a shrapnel hole blown in another home's wall, held up in front of trees at sunrise.

(Buy this book here.) On November 19th, 2023, the Palestinian poet Mosab Abu Toha was detained by IDF forces while attempting to evacuate Gaza with his wife and children. 200 others were also taken. Two days later, after extensive news coverage and outcry in the international literary community, Abu Toha was released and immediately hospitalizedContinue reading “[REVIEW] Things You May Find Hidden In My Ear, by Mosab Abu Toha”

Last Week In Books: Support Black Writers, Asian Bookstores and Palestinian Libraries

A photo of a hijabi in a bookstore, standing in front of a shelf reading a paperback.

Fellow readers! Welcome to this week’s round up of diverse bookish news across genres. Info about diverse writers is becoming even more thin on the ground, which has increased my resolve to keep up with these posts as often as I can. Then again, it is the Blah time before winter solstice and for someContinue reading “Last Week In Books: Support Black Writers, Asian Bookstores and Palestinian Libraries”

[REVIEW]The Rose That Grew From Concrete, by Tupac Shakur

(Buy this book here.) So, the poems in this book are absolutely terrible and we need to talk about that. Put away your pitchforks and torches. I said what I said. This book of posthumously published poetry by one of hip-hop’s most lauded voices is…pretty bad. The rhymes are trite, the metaphors banal (when they’reContinue reading “[REVIEW]The Rose That Grew From Concrete, by Tupac Shakur”

[REVIEW]Remedies for Disappearing, by Alexa Patrick

The beautiful paperback cover of Remedies for Disappearing, featuring a collage in varying shades of blue, a dark-skinned serene Black woman in the foreground, is held up by a Black woman's(my) hand in front of a late summer garden. A family of small wooden bunnies in tuxedos is in the background.

(Buy this wonderful book here.) FINALLY AND AT LAST! It’s been (rightly) noted that I can be rather hard on Black woman writers. (Apologies to Tiffany D Jackson, Tracey Deonn, Jasmine Mans, and others…) I think it’s because I’m aching for us to truly center ourselves and our experiences as our frame of reference, ratherContinue reading “[REVIEW]Remedies for Disappearing, by Alexa Patrick”

[BOOK REVIEW] The Call-Out, by Cat Fitzpatrick

The Kindle cover of The Call-Out, depicting two illustrated women having a fancy uptown lunch, is propped up on a table. Dining room shelves and the edge of a bowlof soup are in the blurry fore- and back- ground

(Buy this book here) This is a polite comedy of manners set in modern-day queer New York, about 6 women(5 of whom are trans), written entirely in rhyming verse, formatted like an old school LiveJournal blog. That’s a lot of concept for a 168-page book, and to its credit, it mostly works. Once you getContinue reading “[BOOK REVIEW] The Call-Out, by Cat Fitzpatrick”

[LAST WEEK IN BOOKS]Biracials, Book Bans, and Billionaires

A flat lay photo of a white t-shirt with a bright LGBTQ+ rainbow and the caption "Take a Look, It's in a...Oh wait, you banned it!" printed on it.

Look what I’ve had time to do for the first time in ages! Diverse book news is still thinning on the ground, but because this is reality and not a trend, here’s some links to keep us all up to date; That’s it for this week, fellow readers. As always, thanks for reading and ifContinue reading “[LAST WEEK IN BOOKS]Biracials, Book Bans, and Billionaires”

[REVIEW] Can You Sign My Tentacle? by Brandon O’Brien

A Black woman's (my) hand holds the paperback of Can You Sign My Tentacle up in front of a fancy hotel elevator. The cover depicts an elder God, half human half writhing tentacles, eyes fathomless, purple dreadlocks poppin', holding a sharpie marker in one outstretched, ageless hand.

(Buy this book.) The author of this speculative poetry collection is from Trinidad and Tobago. I’ve never been there, but I imagine that being islands, there are beaches there, with waves that flow across the sand and lap against the rocks in the same way that these poems flow across your eyes and lap againstContinue reading “[REVIEW] Can You Sign My Tentacle? by Brandon O’Brien”