Chasing Utopia: A Hybrid
The poetry of Nikki Giovanni has spurred social justice movements and inspired songs, turned hearts and informed generations about the reality of life—especially Black life—in America. One of the foremost African-American writers and activists of her generation, she has been hailed as a healer and a sage, a powerful voice on issues of race, equality, violence, and discrimination.

With Chasing Utopia, Giovanni demands that the prosaic—flowers, food, birdsong, winter—be seen as poetic, and reaffirms once again why she is as energetic, "remarkable" (Gwendolyn Brooks), "wonderful" (Marian Wright Edelman),"outspoken, prolific, energetic" (New York Times), and relevant as ever.

 “This slim volume delights on every page. There are stories, imaginings, whimsy, and startling images which prove the poet’s power and her command of language . . . Anyone with a love of language will be delighted with this book and the continuing publication of America’s treasured poet.”—San Francisco Book Review

 

 

1115557846
Chasing Utopia: A Hybrid
The poetry of Nikki Giovanni has spurred social justice movements and inspired songs, turned hearts and informed generations about the reality of life—especially Black life—in America. One of the foremost African-American writers and activists of her generation, she has been hailed as a healer and a sage, a powerful voice on issues of race, equality, violence, and discrimination.

With Chasing Utopia, Giovanni demands that the prosaic—flowers, food, birdsong, winter—be seen as poetic, and reaffirms once again why she is as energetic, "remarkable" (Gwendolyn Brooks), "wonderful" (Marian Wright Edelman),"outspoken, prolific, energetic" (New York Times), and relevant as ever.

 “This slim volume delights on every page. There are stories, imaginings, whimsy, and startling images which prove the poet’s power and her command of language . . . Anyone with a love of language will be delighted with this book and the continuing publication of America’s treasured poet.”—San Francisco Book Review

 

 

15.99 In Stock
Chasing Utopia: A Hybrid

Chasing Utopia: A Hybrid

by Nikki Giovanni
Chasing Utopia: A Hybrid

Chasing Utopia: A Hybrid

by Nikki Giovanni

Overview

The poetry of Nikki Giovanni has spurred social justice movements and inspired songs, turned hearts and informed generations about the reality of life—especially Black life—in America. One of the foremost African-American writers and activists of her generation, she has been hailed as a healer and a sage, a powerful voice on issues of race, equality, violence, and discrimination.

With Chasing Utopia, Giovanni demands that the prosaic—flowers, food, birdsong, winter—be seen as poetic, and reaffirms once again why she is as energetic, "remarkable" (Gwendolyn Brooks), "wonderful" (Marian Wright Edelman),"outspoken, prolific, energetic" (New York Times), and relevant as ever.

 “This slim volume delights on every page. There are stories, imaginings, whimsy, and startling images which prove the poet’s power and her command of language . . . Anyone with a love of language will be delighted with this book and the continuing publication of America’s treasured poet.”—San Francisco Book Review

 

 

Product Details

ISBN-13: 9780062562883
Publisher: HarperCollins
Publication date: 09/20/2016
Edition description: Reprint
Pages: 160
Product dimensions: 5.40(w) x 9.10(h) x 0.60(d)

About the Author

About The Author
Nikki Giovanni, poet, activist, mother, grandmother, and educator, was raised in Tennessee and Ohio and graduated with honors from Fisk University in Nashville. The author of over thirty books, she is also the recipient of seven NAACP Image Awards, the Langston Hughes Medal for Outstanding Poetry, as well as twenty-seven honorary degrees. She garnered her most unusual honor in 2007 when a South American bat species—Micronycteris giovanniae—was named in celebration of her. A devoted teacher, she spent thirty-five years as University Distinguished Professor of English at Virginia Tech in Blacksburg, Virginia. She is an honorary member of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc.

Table of Contents

Chasing Utopia 1

A Short Essay Affirming Why 4

If a Lemon 6

Podcast for Bicycles 7

Why I Wrote The Grasshopper's Song 9

My Sister and Me 13

Spices 14

The Other Place 16

The Lioness Circles Her Brood in New Orleans 17

The Right Way 19

Spring Blooms 20

The International Open 21

The Giggle Bank 22

Kick Stretch Kick 26

Mrs. Scott 27

Where Did the Night Go 29

It's Just Love 30

Still Life with Apron 32

One Thing 34

And Everyone Will Answer 35

Day Pass to Heaven 41

My Dream 42

Artichoke Soup 43

On Knoxville, TN 44

Affirming My Birth Date 45

The American Vision of Abraham Lincoln 48

I Am at That Point 51

I Hate Mondays 52

A Song for a Blackbird 53

Icarus 54

When the Girl Became a Poet 56

When God Made Mountains 59

These Women 62

Cooking with Mommy 65

What the Fly on the Wall Overheard 68

Fear: Eat In or Take Out? 70

Biscuits: Dropped or Baked 72

Poets 74

For Mark Dressman 75

Postcards 77

In Defense of Flowers 78

Werewolf Avoidance 80

Exercise 81

I Communicate 82

The Lone Ranger Rides the Lonesome Trail Again 83

For Runaway Slaves 85

My Diet 86

Nickels for Nina 87

Blues for Roanoke 89

The Spotlight in the Sky 91

The Spider Waltz 92

I Wish I Could Live (in a Book) 93

I Wish I Could Live (in Music) 95

I Wish I Could Live (in a Painting) 97

Don Pullen 99

Making a Perfect Man 101

When My Phone Trembles 104

Still Life with Crying Girl 105

Robert Champion 107

Allowables 109

Flying in Kigali 110

Terezin 112

To the Lion Who Discovered a Deer in His Habitat: Give Him Ketchup! 114

The Significance of Poetry 116

Note to the South: You Lost 117

The Golden Shovel Poem 119

Morgantown, WVA 120

For Sonia Sanchez 121

For Haki Madhubuti 123

Our Job Safety Is Your Priority with Coffee 125

The Brown Bookshelf 129

Interior Vision 131

I Give Easily 133

People Who Live Alone 134

Before You Jump 135

You Gave Her Something 137

Thirst 139

The Scared and the Vulnerable 141

Author's Note 143

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