Poetry comes in many different forms. But we love it when it dives deep into the lives of women writers of color or stories about women and young girls of color, uncovering experiences unique to our intersectional lives. So here are memoirs, novels, and collections in the verse we think you should check out!

In the Beautiful Country by Jane Kuo

In this lyrical and heartfelt novel verse, Anna can’t wait to move to the beautiful country (the Chinese name for America). She’s only ever lived in Taiwan, but she can’t help but brag about the move to her family and friends.

When they arrive in America, Anna’s family can only afford a cramped apartment. She’s bullied in school, struggles to learn the new language, and the restaurant her parents poured their life’s savings into is barely afloat. This strange place is proving to be anything but beautiful. The story, inspired by the author’s experiences, is about resilience, courage, and the struggle to make a place for yourself.

 

 

Girls That Never Die by Safia Elhillo – July 12, 2022

In this collection, Safia Elhillo reinvents the epic to explore Muslim girlhood and shame, the dangers of being a woman, and the violence enacted and imagined against women’s bodies.

Elhillo draws inspiration from her life and family histories, cultural myths, and news stories. She interlaces the everyday traumas of growing up as a girl under patriarchy with magical realist imaginings of rebellion, autonomy, and power. In these poems, women escape stonings with the help of birds that carry the rocks away. Circles of women are deemed holy and protected. Slain girls grow into two like the hydra of Greek myths. These poems free women from the threats of violence that constrain our lives and look to freedom.

 

Poūkahangatus by Tayi Tibble – July 26, 2022

In Poūkahangatus (pronounced “Pocahontas”), Tayi Tibble explores her identity as a twenty-first-century Māori woman. Tibble tackles an array of mythologies, from Greek to Māori to feminist. She engages readers in rhythmic discussions using colorful, passionate, and humorous language. She easily renders the natural world, precise emotions, and teenage womanhood. Tibble writes from a world where the effects of colonization, land, work, and gender are connected, proving herself to be a daring new poet.

 

 

To Be Maya by Claudia Recinos Seldeen – August 1, 2022

Maya is excited to go on an actual date with lacrosse star Josh Williams. The only obstacle? Her Guatemalan mother. Maya’s mother immigrated to the United States before Maya was even born, but she clings tightly to her roots and traditions, which embarrasses Maya. On top of that, her mother isn’t on board with Maya beginning to date. How will she ever be able to convince her mom she’s ready to grow up and has more freedom? Will she be able to change her mind before Josh loses interest and moves on to someone who doesn’t have to break free of their Guatemalan heritage?

 

 

 

Walking Gentry Home by Alora Young – August 02, 2022

The lives of young Black girls and Black women come together to form a uniquely American epic in verse. Alora Young gives voice to her unnamed ancestors using information from archival research, the last will and testament of an enslaver, formal interviews, and a DNA test. First, she retells Amy’s story, the first of Young’s foremothers to arrive in Tennessee. Then she examines her great-grandmother Gentry’s story, unhappily married at fourteen. Next, her mother, a teenage beauty queen, was rejected by her white neighbors. Then we meet Young in the present day as she leaves her childhood behind and enters young adulthood.

Each poem is a story in verse that speaks to generational curses, coming of age, fleeting loves and lasting consequences, and the legacy of slavery in our nation’s psyche.