“How are you going to force white critics to learn enough about us? Most of them have no interest in us or in our work. So how are you going to make them sensitive?” – Gwendolyn Brooks, in conversation with Claudia Tate
Are book recommendations useful to you, dear reader of The Shipwrecked Sailor Blog @ lazy and entitled dot org? I hope so. There is a lot of awful in the world. While reading a book won’t chase ICE out of your city or bring one of Epstein offenders to justice, I’ll bet a book does two things: 1) makes your brain feel better than doomscrolling/binging MSNBC and 2) gives you a feeling that better things are possible. Even apolitical or really sad books convince me that a better world is possible.
So while it is a music year for Lazy & Entitled, we really want to encourage people to try to read more. Read revolutionary books, read books with horror and romance and adventure, read books that challenge your thinking. Read books that are pure fun. You don’t have to read everything recommended here, but maybe this gets you started.
Each month, I’m doing a book list. Not every month will be poetry-exclusive, but this month is. The best poetry is written by Black women who grew up on South Side of Chicago. I believe Nate Marshall said that, and he was right. Here are some poetry books to read:
BLACK PASTORAL by Ariana Benson
Maybe I’m the fucked up one, but I think the very title of this collection is revolutionary. Rural Black people get forgotten in mainstream narratives, I feel like. Never forget that Donald Trump made Ben Carson—one of the most talented neurosurgeons of all time and rock-stupid in all other aspects of life—Secretary of Housing and Urban Development. Presumably for no other reason than “don’t ‘Black’ and ‘urban’ mean the same thing?” It’s a stereotype of white people to enjoy nature, spend time in it. Ariana’s book takes that on, and the poems are glorious. It’s hard for me to walk past my shelf and not pick this book up.
REFUSED A SECOND DATE by Maya Williams
My dear friend Maya is never one to run from difficult questions. I’ve recommended Judas And Suicide recently, so time to talk about this one. Of their two full lengths, it’s impossible to pick a favorite, but I do feel like eir poetry gets sharper and more refined with each offering (Maya also has two chapbooks available). This book reflects on Maya’s biracial identity and their engagement to a white man, and all that comes with that.
GOOD MONSTER by Diannely Antigua
If you’re in the world of poetry and you don’t know Diannely Antigua? What are you doing? Again, I can’t pick a favorite, between Good Monster and Ugly Music, but there’s an overall thematic cohesiveness to Good Monster that makes it feel like the more mature book. There’s real vulnerability in these poems. At an event at the Poetry Foundation in 2023, I had Diannely say that these poems were like messages of care to her younger self. It shows. This collection is a powerful read.
THE SHOES OF THE FISHERMAN’S WIFE by upfromsumdirt
Read this over the weekend (will be talking more about it not this Friday, but next), and man, it delivers. It’s a book that establishes spectrums and then slides wildly through them. Dirt, and space. Myth, and 90s hip-hop. Past, and future. There’s Harryette Mullen-esque language games afoot here. Brother dirt will not let you have anything easy, reader, and you will be grateful and better for it.
BE HOLDING by Ross Gay
A long poem to wash over you. A poem for Allen Iverson and Julius Erving fans, for late night meditation fans. A poem made of couplets, which are the sexiest type of verse, as Dr. Han Vanderhart said on The Line Break/Of Poetry crossover episode. Hey, as long as we’re linking The Line Break, how about part one and part two of Bob and me reading this book?
ELECTRIC ARCHES by Eve L. Ewing
One of my favorite collections ever, and one of my favorite examples of Afrofuturism. Eve imagines a world where sci-fi and magic are tools of liberation, methods of escape from an oppressive world.
SOUTHSIDE RAIN by Quraysh Ali Lansana
Chicagoan Quraysh Ali Lansana came to Loyola for a big event either spring semester of my junior year or fall semester of my senior year, and I was entranced. Read this book if you think there was a quiet gap between the Civil Rights Movement and Black Lives Matter. The fight for liberation in the United States has been ongoing and will continue to be ongoing, even when mainstream news cycles lose interest.
A STREET IN BRONZEVILLE by Gwendolyn Brooks
Her debut, and worth every bit of the hype it gets. Small poems for the people. It’s amazing. Chicago Over Everything.
SEISMOSIS by John Keene and Christopher Stackhouse
An incredible exploration of what abstract art can be. John writes the poems, Christopher does the line drawings, and the conversation between the two is delightful. A lesson from this book: buy small press books when you can. I didn’t buy this book back in 2009, and now it’s $40 used on Amazon.
I DONE CLICKED MY HEELS THREE TIMES by Taylor Byas
Didn’t I say Black people from the South Side of Chicago write the best poetry? I’ve blogged about this book a couple of times. Soon I will read Resting Bitch Face. As in, it came in the mail the other day.
DON’T LET ME BE LONELY by Claudia Rankine
Look, since Citizen came out, every book list in the world will tell you read Claudia Rankine. I’ve read two of her books so far (Don’t Let Me Be Lonely, Citizen, and am reading Just Us next week), and sure, Citizen is recognizably an achievement. Claudia Rankine has a sharp eye for the moment, and Citizen coming out in 2014 (on the heels of Trayvon Martin’s murder, right before Michael Brown’s murder and the start of Black Lives Matter) was—well, serendipitous feels like a gross word to use. This one was destined for the readings lists, though.
That said, don’t sleep on Don’t Let Me Be Lonely. It’s an incredible artifact of the second Bush administration. It really illustrates how long the U.S.’s decline has been, how easily foreseeable the fall into fascism was. But a book recommendation column is not a place to say some of us have been telling you so.
As with all book lists, I left some really, really great stuff off, and also learned that my shelf needs more Black poets. I mean, maybe that’s the thing with book lists. I also thought “I need more Chicago books” and “I need more monster books” when I did those.
So idk.
Read more books.
Sorry you got an email,
Chris