Memoir Poetry

Life reminds me of a swinging bridge. We begin on firm ground, and as our life progresses, we experience the sometimes thrilling, sometimes terrifying, and sometimes tranquil passage to the other side - our future. This is the story of my swinging bridge, summed up in a collection of poems, essays, writing exercises some of you may recognize, short stories, and excerpts from my memoir Son of My Soul - The Adoption of Christopher.

This program is read by the author. In the literary tradition of Carmen Maria Machado’s In the Dream House, Maxine Hong Kingston’s The Woman Warrior, and Jesmyn Ward’s Men We Reaped, this debut memoir confronts both the challenges and joys of growing up Black and making your own truth...

New York Times best-selling author J. A. Jance's heartrending collection of poetry and essays recounts a dark chapter of her own life, her first marriage to an alcoholic - a powerful look at the emotional cost of addiction and an inspiring story of courage and triumph in the wake of crushing defeat.

Acclaimed Cave Canem poet and essayist Remica Bingham-Risher interweaves personal essays and interviews she conducted over a decade with 10 distinguished Black poets, such as Lucille Clifton, Sonia Sanchez, and Patricia Smith, to explore the impact of identity, joy, love, and history on the artistic process. Each essay is thematically inspired, centered on one of her interviews, and uses quotes drawn from her talks to showcase their philosophies. Each essay also delves into how her own life and work are influenced by these elders.

Poetry. Literary nonfiction. Fiction. Drama. LGBTQIA studies. Women's studies. Compiled in one book for the first time, featuring both new and out-of-print pieces, the contents of The Judy Grahn Reader span four decades of work by the prominent writer and activist. This volume contains writing from every phase of Judy Grahn's career, including poems from all of her major poetry collections, a number of her groundbreaking essays, as well as selected fiction and the full-length play The Queen of Swords.

A collection of poems written by someone who is no stranger to everyday struggles of love and mayhem. These poems vary in topics and length. Judith understands struggles and that with hope a little faith that strengthen our beliefs, there is always a brighter day tomorrow. With faith and understanding, the bitter realities of human relations makes us stronger today.

The book chronicles, in poetic form, the life of a woman who, in three distinct and significant life events, feels she is “the other woman” to her husband, to her child, and even to herself, rather than the woman who is “good enough” just as she is. Not until she loses her eyesight does she finally allow herself to stop putting herself aside and be who she always has been—a strong, insightful, creative, resilient, faith driven, funny, and fun-loving woman. A resurrected woman!

Poet, educator, and social activist Gwendolyn Brooks was a singular force in American culture. The first Black woman to be named United States poet laureate, Brook’s poetry, fiction, and social commentary shed light on the beauty of humanity, the distinct qualities of Black life and community, and the destructive effects of racism, sexism, and class inequality. A collection of 30 essays combining critical analysis and personal reflection, The Whiskey of Our Discontent presents essential elements of Brooks' oeuvre - on race, gender, class, community, and poetic craft.

The life of Letitita Elizabeth Landon - pen name L.E.L. - was one lived in a blaze of scandal and worship, one of the most famous women of her time, the Romantic Age in London's 1820s, her life and writing on the ascendency as Byron's came to an end. Lucasta Miller tells the full story and recreates the literary London of her time.

As a fan of mainstream singer and songwriter music, I have become an expert in the dualistic creative process and passion involved in art.

Written words are vibrating your brain waves, unlocking the crave to follow a program of life. Rays are put in front of us everyday. Reality is presented in a new way.

Mental audio that you can see before you hear. It's in your brain before it's in your ear. If you miss a point, do not fear, just listen to it again. Your mind will make it clear. The vibration of these words make a meaning of this sound.

Abandoned by her hustling father, raised by her devoted mother, then battered by the winds of loss, heartbreak, and sexual assault, awarded diversity and inclusion leader and author Nikki Murphy exposes the undercurrents of resilience and faith that undergird her success in this riveting memoir-in-verse. Home for Hurricanes provides a sobering portrayal of both the jubilance and hardening of Black girls emanating from the ghettos, and Murphy celebrates their resolve to build free and whole lives.

Into the Goddesslands (1993-1995) is the first book of the Goddesslands Trilogy, a composite of vignettes, journal entries, poems, and dialogues with inner voices - the personal myth of Pamé La Calmette.

“An enchanting book—please read.” —Dr. Jane Goodall, DBE; Founder of the Jane Goodall Institute & UN Messenger of Peace In this touching audiobook memoir about the relationship between father, daughter, and animals, Carole George explores life after adopting thirteen pet Karakul lambs...

With the publication of her first book of poems in her sixty-third year, Amy Clampitt rose meteorically to fame, launching herself from obscurity to the upper ranks of American poetry all but overnight, and living a whirlwind eleven years, until her death in 1994. Years later, as renowned poetry scholar Willard Spiegelman wades into her papers and poems, he discovers a woman of dazzling intellect, staunch progressive politics, and an inexhaustible sense of wonder for the world and the words we’ve invented to describe it.

Seleccion de sus grandes escritos. A pesar de que el manifestaba, que soy un hombre sencillo, la estatura de Jose Marti como adalid de la libertad es unica.

Are you hoping to rediscover the magic of the winter holidays? Looking for traditional inspiration for your upcoming Xmas parties? Ever wondered what’s behind the twelve days of gift-giving? The daughter of a real cowboy, award-winning author Larada Horner-Miller grew up in a small rural community in southeastern Colorado. Now she’s using her seventy years of festive experiences to share the true meaning of the season and how to rejoice in its miracles.

Focused on faith and woven with Christian, ecumenical, and patriotic themes, Our Immigrants’ Son is an exploration and celebration of family. The genres of prose poetry and historical fiction very cleverly takes you through the author’s rich Irish American history. It begins in misty Ireland and takes you through generations of the Murphy clan while also teaching you how to write your family story.

From life in a suburban Western Pennsylvania steel town in the middle of the post-World War II baby boom, to contemplation in retirement, Though Oftentimes Better than Master of One is a collection of brief memoirs, recollections, and prose that is meant to be listened to in small portions, much like slowly sipping a cup of warm tea during a cold winter’s evening while relaxing in a reclining chair. These brief narratives describe events from the author’s youth, college years, career, and current day life in retirement.

Gay icon, great poet, leather daddy, eccentric professor, English, American, biker, non-driver, drug addict, hedonist, intellectual, enigmatic, friendly, Everyman, one-of-a-kind, brother, roommate, HIV-negative, paradigmatic AIDS writer, Nazi belt wearer, Jeff Dahmer scholar, Guggenheim Genius, secret philanthropist, Formalist, Existentialist, prolific letter writer, some-sort-of-an-angel...Thom Gunn was all of these and more... But hovering above these figures lay the memory of his mother.