Journey to Wisconsin


Book Description




Journey to Wisconsin


Book Description

Journey to Wisconsin: African American Life in Haiku celebrates African American history, culture and literature by focusing on little known facts about the African American presence in Wisconsin. Narrative poetry is used to give a glimpse of Nathaniel and Cynthia Owen, married African American settlers in 1800's Wisconsin. The movement of free people from Africa to enslaved in America and finally free again in Wisconsin, is written in Haiku.




In Our Own Tongues


Book Description

In Our Own Tongues gives poetic voice to three generations of African-American women. It celebrates how Black women speak and do in the ways best known to them. This powerful and healing collection of poetry touches on a variety of experiences in the United States regarding emotional abuse, physical and sexual assault, racism, lynching, political issues as well as the permeating smell of magnolia's.




Morning Haiku


Book Description

This new volume by the much-loved poet Sonia Sanchez, her first in over a decade, is music to the ears: a collection of haiku that celebrates the gifts of life and mourns the deaths of revered African American figures in the worlds of music, literature, art, and activism. In her verses, we hear the sounds of Max Roach "exploding in the universe," the "blue hallelujahs" of the Philadelphia Murals, and the voice of Odetta "thundering out of the earth." Sanchez sings the praises of contemporaries whose poetic alchemy turns "words into gems": Maya Angelou, Richard Long, and Toni Morrison. And she pays homage to peace workers and civil rights activists from Rosa Parks and Congresswoman Shirley Chisholm to Brother Damu, founder of the National Black Environmental Justice Network. Often arranged in strings of twelve or more, the haiku flow one into the other in a steady song of commemoration. Sometimes deceptively simple, her lyrics hold a very powerful load of emotion and meaning. There are intimate verses here for family and friends, verses of profound loss and silence, of courage and resilience. Sanchez is innovative, composing haiku in new forms, including a section of moving two-line poems that reflect on the long wake of 9/11. In a brief and personal opening essay, the poet explains her deep appreciation for haiku as an art form. With its touching portraits and by turns uplifting and heartbreaking lyrics, Morning Haiku contains some of Sanchez's freshest, most poignant work.




Love Poems


Book Description

Love Poems is the fourth collection of poetry by Fabu. Fabu was selected as the third Madison Poet Laureate (2008-2012) and the first African American. She writes to encourage, inspire and remind. Fabu includes historical research in all of her poems; especially little know facts about African American history, culture and legacy. Love Poems is divided into four categories; Spiritual Love, Family Love, Love for People & Ideals and Romantic Love. Fabu writes in her introduction that "all kinds of love are integral to our lives and need to be fully explored and expressed." One poem from the romance section is You Fit Me.You Fit Meby FabuA missing puzzle piecefound and fitted.A key in a lockthat turns easily.A right amount of currentflowing through prongssnug in a socket.You fit me.Fabu's other books are Poems, Dreams & Roses, In Our Own Tongues, Journey to Wisconsin: African American Life in Haiku and the forthcoming fifth book of poetry, Mary Lou Williams in Poetry. Poems, Dreams & Roses encourages youth to write poetry. It is about Poet Fabu's growth in the literary arts from a child to an adult. It includes photographs and hand-drawn illustrations. In Our Own Tongues chronicles Fabu's experiences as a graduate student attached to the University of Nairobi, and later as lecturer in African American Literature and Caribbean Literature at the Kenyatta University in Nairobi, Kenya. This book looks at three generations of southern women, the English they spoke and the history of their lives. In Our Own Tongues' first printing was by The University of Nairobi press and is currently being taught in the Department of Literature. Journey to Wisconsin: African American Life in Haiku follows the journey of enslaved Africans from Africa to the South and on to the Midwest in hopes of better lives. A narrative poem about Nathaniel Owens begins each section because Nathaniel Owens was brought as a child to Baraboo, Wisconsin and there are seven generations of his family in Wisconsin. Haiku fills the rest of the book. This book won an Outstanding Achievement in Poetry Award from the Wisconsin Library Association. The last book, Mary Lou Williams in Poetry is forthcoming. The result of careful research, the book traces the life of the child piano prodigy Mary Lou Williams into the jazz great that she became as an adult woman. Some of the poems have the same title as Mary Lou Williams's compositions. This book awakens the public through poetry to the often forgotten jazz genius who spanned six decades of jazz. Hear Poet Fabu reading her original poems on www.Artistfabu.com.




Seeing Into Tomorrow


Book Description

Offers a selection of haiku poems by the acclaimed writer Richard Wright, with photograph illustrations and a short biography of Wright.




Wisconsin Haiku


Book Description

"Featuring Wisconsin landmarks, both historic and lesser known, these Haiku will fill your senses. The beautiful full-color photos, accompanied by simple 5-7-5 syllable rhythm, capture a brief look at what makes them stand out. Take a road trip through Wisconsin from your sofa as you browse the book." -- Back cover.




Love Poems Again


Book Description

Love Poems Again are poems on contemporary love that includes a poem on every type of love; spirititual love, family love, love for people and ideals, and of course, romantic love. The book is written from an African American perspective and world view on love.




A Half-Moon Shining


Book Description




Sacred Mary Lou


Book Description

Sacred Mary Lou is a book of poems about Mary Lou's Mass for Peace.