Bailey can look forward to a great future as a poet.”—L. Ali Khan, New York Journal of Books

Finalist for the 2021 National Book Award for Poetry, sponsored by The National Book Foundation

Longlisted for the 2022 OCM Bocas Prize

Finalist for the 2022 Kate Tufts Discovery Award, sponsored by the Claremont Graduate School

Named One of the Best Books of 2021 by the New York Public Library

Longlisted for the 2022 Dylan Thomas Prize, sponsored by Swansea University

“Bailey invites us to see what twenty-first-century life is like for a young woman of the Black diaspora in the long wake of a history of slavery, brutality, and struggling for freedoms bodily and psychological.”—Carl Phillips, from the Foreword

“Desiree C. Bailey sings true in her debut What Noise Against the Cane. Wherever this voice goes a Caribbean sun travels with it transfiguring what a maroon might overhear—a call awaiting response.”—Yusef Komunyakaa

Bailey invites us to see what twenty-first-century life is like for a young woman of the Black diaspora in the long wake of a history of slavery, brutality, and struggling for freedoms bodily and psychological.”—Carl Phillips, from the Foreword

"What Noise Against the Cane ruminates family and place, culture and daily rituals, and Desiree C. Bailey’s voice sings it all true, lived and imagined. There’s strength and give in each step of a journey, and traditional music informs this strong collection. Nimble phrasing and natural soil fuse into an extended narrative. Wherever this voice goes a Caribbean sun travels with it. The single, long line at the end of each page—as if a heart-line—accrues and transfigures this collection. Identity shines in each poem. And, as if a maroon might overhear, or a call awaits a response, What Noise Against the Cane embodies an intimate conjuring that fully engages the reader.—Yusef Komunyakaa

The 2020 winner of the Yale Younger Poets prize is sometimes emotionally difficult to hear. The poetry is unstintingly honest and unafraid of challenging the listener. Those unfamiliar with Caribbean speech may also have some trouble with the intense Trinidadian accent the author uses in many of the poems, but a second listen should enable anyone to get the full power of this work. And there is considerable power here, worthy of a second listen. The collection is centered on Caribbean history and mythology, and can be as educational as it is moving. Add to that a voice that is almost singing the text, and you get a marvelous poetry experience. D.M.H. Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award © AudioFile 2022, Portland, Maine