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14 Works of Poetry That Will Move You
A reading list that includes Nikki Giovanni, Lucille Clifton, Morgan Parker, and more
“Poetry is a matter of life, not just a matter of language,” poet Lucille Clifton once said. In celebration of National Poetry Month, the editors of ZORA are highlighting poetic masterworks by Black women from the ZORA Canon that are contemplative, spirit-shifting, and healing. These books below prove that the power of poetry isn’t solely in the words. The power also lies in how it moves you.
Maud Martha
by Gwendolyn Brooks (1953)
Gwendolyn Brooks’ only novel, Maud Martha is a prose poem coming-of-age story about a girl growing up in the Black neighborhoods of Chicago.
Selected Poems
by Gwendolyn Brooks (1963)
A fine poetry collection in which Gwendolyn Brooks injects the English language with as much Blackness as possible. She undermines expectations “poem after poem,” says Pulitzer prize-winning critic and professor Margo Jefferson.
The Black Woman: An Anthology
by Toni Cade Bambara (1970)
A delightful anthology of poetry, short stories, and essays that “set the agenda for…
