swap_horiz Please Alternatives

1

Voyage of the Sable Venus

Robin Coste Lewis’s *Voyage of the Sable Venus* is a powerful poetry collection exploring the depiction of Black female...

Black American NBA Ekphrastic

9.2 Excellent

2

Olio

Tyehimba Jess’s *Olio* is a 2016 poetry collection exploring the lives and legacies of Black musicians within American m...

Black History American Pulitzer

9.2 Excellent

3

Don't Call Us Dead

“Don’t Call Us Dead” is a poetry collection by Danez Smith exploring themes of Black queer life and survival. The work...

Black American Queer Award

9.1 Excellent

4

Incendiary Art

Incendiary Art is a collection of black American poetry exploring themes of social justice and political unrest. The wor...

Black American Political Award

9.0 Excellent

5

Annie Allen

Gwendolyn Brooks’ Annie Allen (1949) is a landmark poetry collection exploring the experiences of a young Black woman gr...

Black Classic American Pulitzer

8.9 Great

6

The Dream of a Common Language

Adrienne Rich’s 1978 collection, *The Dream of a Common Language*, offers a powerful examination of gender, power, and i...

Classic American Feminist Queer

8.9 Great

7

The Tradition

The Tradition is a Pulitzer Prize-winning poetry collection by Trudier Harris. It explores themes of Black American iden...

Black American Queer Pulitzer

8.9 Great

8

Night Sky with Exit Wounds

Night Sky with Exit Wounds is a debut poetry collection by American poet, Victoria Chang. The work explores themes of fa...

American Queer Debut Award

8.9 Great

9

Look

Look offers a stark collection of poems exploring themes of American experience and the impact of war through precise la...

Language American War Debut

8.9 Great

10

Night Sky with Exit Wounds by Ocean Vuong

Ocean Vuong’s *Night Sky with Exit Wounds* is a powerful poetry collection examining themes of inherited trauma, familia...

American Contemporary Collection Poetry

8.7 Great

11

And Still I Rise

Maya Angelou’s “And Still I Rise” is a powerful poetry collection examining themes of resilience, identity, and the Blac...

Black Lyric American Popular

8.7 Great

12

Blessing the Boats: New and Selected Poems 1988-2000

Lucille Clifton’s *Blessing the Boats* (2000) is a collection of poems spanning from 1988 to 2000. The work explores the...

Black American NBA Selected

8.7 Great

13

The Renunciations

“The Renunciations” is a poetry collection by Casey Jacobsen exploring themes of grief and identity through a distinctly...

American Grief Queer Award

8.7 Great

14

Blood Dazzler

Blood Dazzler is a poetry collection exploring themes of Black American experience and social justice. The work confront...

Black American Political Hurricane

8.7 Great

15

Lighthead

Terrance Hayes’ *Lighthead* (2010) is a poetry collection exploring themes of identity, memory, and cultural inheritance...

Black Lyric American NBA

8.6 Great

16

Calling a Wolf a Wolf

Calling a Wolf a Wolf is a debut collection of American poetry exploring themes of spiritual crisis and addiction throug...

American Spiritual Addiction Debut

8.6 Great

17

Shoulda Been Jimi Savannah

Shoulda Been Jimi Savannah is a collection of poems by Black American poet, Shane Bauer. The work explores themes of rac...

Black Music American Award

8.6 Great

18

Homie

Danez Smith’s *Homie* is a 2020 poetry collection exploring themes of Black friendship and queer identity within the con...

Black American Friendship Queer

8.5 Great

19

The New Testament

The New Testament is a 2014 poetry collection by American poet Jericho Brown that won the Anisfield-Wolf Book Award for...

Black Lyric American Queer

8.0 Great

20

[insert] boy

[insert] boy is a 2014 poetry collection by American poet Danez Smith that explores Blackness, queerness, and trauma, wi...

Black American Queer Debut

7.9 Good