Poetry. African American Studies. "This focused first collection chronicles 300 years of African American medical experience, primarily exposing the outrage of health disparities, but also highlighting the groundbreaking work of Black physicians. Composed of both individual and collective histories, and meticulously researched, it is as absorbing as a novel, but its ultimate aim is justice. Williams says it best in her Author's Note: ELEGY FOR A SCARRED SHOULDER works to 'remind readers of the complexities, concerns and needs of the Black body, and how this and other bodies of color, bodies fearfully and wonderfully made, are worthy of protection, personal and community longevity, and quality affordable healthcare.' Her poems achieve this goal mightily, and they speak with many voices"--University of Arizona Poetry Center.

Elegy for a Scarred Shoulder

Literature & Fiction

Williams, Karen

Poetry

Willow Books/Aquarius Press

Poetry. African American Studies. "Just when contemporary poetry seems headed for a repetitive rut of slickly confessional, self-indulgent drivel, Curtis Crisler's fierce and unapologetic stanzas shatter a window to let the air in. This is biting, innovative work that refuses to allow the reader to turn away. If you need any proof that poetry still has a future, look here. Here is the sign we've been waiting for"--Patricia Smith.

Pulling Scabs

Crisler, Curtis

Poetry. African American Studies. In 1850 Olive Gilbert helped Isabella Baumfree (Sojourner Truth) pen her slave narrative, Narrative of Sojourner Truth: A Northern Slave. The book provided a detailed account of Truth's life as a slave and the horrific conditions enslaved African Americans were forced to withstand under the brutal system of chattel slavery. THUNDER IN HER VOICE examines the heroic life of Sojourner Truth through verse. Each excerpt from the slave narrative is reflected in poetry as Lita Hooper walks us through Truth's life, providing portrayals of Truth's friends, family members and enemies. The poems offer an intimate look into the life of one of America's most important abolitionists. Rather than a series of revisions, Lita Hooper's elegant poems are striking illuminations that take us beyond the "facts" of Sojourner's life and into the "truth" of her thoughts, her fears, her hopes and her prayers. Hooper's genius lies in her capacity for empathy and her ability to write a poetic line of such simplicity and grace that it turns even the most harrowing facts into beautiful laments of pain and hope.

Thunder in Her Voice: The Narrative of Sojourner Truth

Biographies & Memoirs

Hooper, Lita

Community & Culture

Memoir of 1950s-1960s Honolulu by Chinese American author Loreen Lilyn Lee. Grand Prize Winner, Willow Books Literature Awards. 
"Lyrical, gorgeous, a masterpiece of the place that is Hawai'i. And painful, insightful, the memoir of a Chinese American girl growing up in a rigidly patriarchal, deeply sexist society. Lee brings her compassionate eye not only to her childhood but to an intimate account of her womanhood both shadowed and enriched by her heritage. The Lava Never Sleeps: A Honolulu Memoir will take its place as an important addition to the shelf on American experience."
--Priscilla Long, author of Fire and Stone: Where Do We Come From? What Are We? Where Are We Going?

The Lava Never Sleeps: A Honolulu Memoir

Loreen Lilyn Lee

Put It on Record: A Memoir-Archive

Svay, Sokunthary

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Books by Willow Books/Aquarius Press