Woman, Eat Me Whole: Poems

by Ama Asantewa Diaka

Overview

A bold, mesmerizing debut collection exploring womanhood, the body, mental illness, and what it means to move between cultures 

Renowned for her storytelling and spoken-word artistry, Ama Asantewa Diaka is also an exultant, fierce, and visceral poet whose work leaves a lasting impact.

Touching on themes from perceptions of beauty to the betrayals of the body, from what it means to give consent to how we grapple with demons internal and external, Woman, Eat Me Whole is an entirely fresh and powerful look at womanhood and personhood in a shifting world. Moving between Ghana and the United States, Diaka probes those countries’ ever-changing cultural expectations and norms while investigating the dislocation and fragmentation of a body—and a mind—so often restless or ill at ease.

Vivid and bodily while also deeply cerebral, Woman, Eat Me Whole is a searing debut collection from a poet with an inimitable voice and vision. 

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780063092921
Publisher:	HarperCollins
Publication date:	04/04/2023
Pages:	96
Sales rank:	930,262
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x (d)

About the Author

Ama Asantewa Diaka is a Ghanaian poet, storyteller, and spoken word artist who performs as Poetra Asantewa. She is the author of the chapbook, You Too Will Know Me, and the debut poetry collection, Woman, Eat Me Whole, and her poems and fiction have appeared in print and online. She recently completed an MFA at the Art Institute of Chicago. She lives in Ghana.

Table of Contents

Woman

Ama Nkrumah 3

Shoot 5

Still woman? 7

Woman 8

God is a woman 9

Alien eggs 11

Ordinary Speak 12

V for Pink 13

V for Pink (remix) 14

@mAnsPlainA 16

Question 17

Reminder 18

Missed opportunity 19

Start: restart 20

A Good Day for Redemption 21

The audacity of men 23

False teachings 24

Love Yourself 25

Girl to Woman 28

Mathematician 29

Sum 31

That-which-must-not-be-named 32

Eat

Take, Eat 39

Woman = pain 40

Our utopias are different 41

Uses 43

My love is a warm pot of soup 44

Me

God in every nook 49

The awesome in Me 52

Transmogrified dreamer and a God with a Wi-Fi connection 53

You have dreams 54

New roses 55

Jigsaw 56

Loose faith 58

Anatomy of a body 59

Mirror, mirror 61

Let it be 63

Our Father who art in heaven 64

Building blocks 66

Whole

Saltwater 71

Formation 74

Bloom 76

A utopia for black girls 78

Saturday Evening WhatsApp Message 80

Letter to Afua 82

w-i-p 84

Masked Commoners 85

Acknowledgments 87

Editorial Reviews

"In Ama Asantewa Diaka’s collection, Woman, Eat Me Whole, the great invention is in her manner of reconfiguring the metaphysical into a deeply African, even Ghanaian reckoning with the body of the woman—it is thick with blood, flesh, and ferocious intelligence...Diaka’s meditations—revealing, complicated and elegant—take the most endearing and engaging risks, even as she produces verse of urgent and timely relevance. Her poetic presence in the world excites me greatly." — Kwame Dawes

From the Publisher

"In Ama Asantewa Diaka’s collection, Woman, Eat Me Whole, the great invention is in her manner of reconfiguring the metaphysical into a deeply African, even Ghanaian reckoning with the body of the woman—it is thick with blood, flesh, and ferocious intelligence...Diaka’s meditations—revealing, complicated and elegant—take the most endearing and engaging risks, even as she produces verse of urgent and timely relevance. Her poetic presence in the world excites me greatly."

Kwame Dawes

Ama Asantewa Diaka narrates her collection of poetry in this deeply personal audiobook. Diaka explores several topics relating to the female body, such as misogyny, motherhood, pain, and pleasure, along with her experiences as a Black Ghanaian woman. Her delicate voice delivers meditations on a female body broken down into pieces and chiseled to a version of herself others would mold her into. Deeply feminist, this collection recognizes a reality in which women are not in complete control of their bodies and are expected to accept critique without complaint. Diaka’s gift for storytelling and visceral narration resonates with heartrending sadness, resentment, and an invitation to empathy. An audiobook that truly enhances the written word. A.K.R. © AudioFile 2022, Portland, Maine

MAY 2022 - AudioFile

Ama Asantewa Diaka narrates her collection of poetry in this deeply personal audiobook. Diaka explores several topics relating to the female body, such as misogyny, motherhood, pain, and pleasure, along with her experiences as a Black Ghanaian woman. Her delicate voice delivers meditations on a female body broken down into pieces and chiseled to a version of herself others would mold her into. Deeply feminist, this collection recognizes a reality in which women are not in complete control of their bodies and are expected to accept critique without complaint. Diaka’s gift for storytelling and visceral narration resonates with heartrending sadness, resentment, and an invitation to empathy. An audiobook that truly enhances the written word. A.K.R. © AudioFile 2022, Portland, Maine

MAY 2022 - AudioFile