Ntozake Shange – författare

'Inspiring. Emotionally charged. Ground-breaking' BERNARDINE EVARISTO'A revelation. I am so thankful to Ntozake Shange for seeing us, reflecting us and showing us how beautiful we can be' JESMYN WARD'Encompassing, it seems, every feeling and experience a woman has ever had' NEW YORKERThe Lady in Red has adored her lover for eight months, 2 weeks and a day, but now she is leaving. The Lady in Blue has an abortion, all alone. The Lady in Brown can read fifteen books in three weeks.The Lady in Purple has met a man, and is finally being real. The Lady in Yellow was a virgin, until she spent her graduation night driving around in a black Buick with boys. And the Lady in Orange has to dance to keep from crying and dying.Written in 1975 and immediately hailed as a masterwork, this 'choreo-poem' is made up of monologues detailing loss, betrayal, love and community. A passionate and fearless portrait of black womanhood in the twentieth century, it resonates with deep emotional power and unusual beauty. A W&N Essential

I am gonna write poems til I die and when I have gotten outta this body I am gonna hang round in the wind and knock over everybody who got their feet on the ground.In the late 1960s, Ntozake Shange was a student at Barnard College discovering her budding talent as a writer, publishing in her school's literary journal, and finding her unique voice. By the time of her death in 2018, she had scorched blazing trails across countless pages and stages, redefining genre and form as we know them, each verse, dance, and song a love letter to Black women and girls, and the community at large.In Sing A Black Girl's Song, we meet the young Shange, learn the moments that inspired for colored girls who have considered suicide/when the rainbow is enuf, travel with an eclectic family of musicians, and sit on "The Couch" opposite Shange's therapist. We read, in their original form, the literary rebel's politically charged verses from the Black Arts Movement era alongside her signature tender rhythm and cadence that capture the minutia and nuance of Black life.This new posthumous collection, including never-before-seen unpublished essays, plays, and poems, is a long-lasting gift from this seminal Black feminist writer, one of the fiercest and most highly celebrated artists of our time.EDITED BY IMANI PERRY

Having gone north to college, Sassafrass, a weaver, is now living with other artists in Los Angeles. Cypress, a dancer, is leaving home to find new ways of moving in the world. Meanwhile Indigo, a musician and healer, is still a child of Charleston - "too much of the south in her" - with a supreme gift of seeing the magic of the world. Sassafrass, Cypress & Indigo is a lyrical, magical exploration of Black womanhood, love and creativity. Following three sisters - Sassafrass, Cypress and Indigo - the novel blends prose, recipes, letters, spells and dreams into a vibrant tapestry. A W&N Essential

NAACP Image Award Finalist for Outstanding Literary Work From the poet, novelist, and cultural icon behind the award-winning and extraordinary Broadway play, for colored girls who have considered suicide/when the rainbow is enuf, comes “a kaleidoscopic journey through black womanhood” (Publishers Weekly, starred review) and a moving bilingual collection of new and beloved poems.In this stirring collection of more than sixty original and selected poems in both English and Spanish, Ntozake Shange shares her utterly unique, unapologetic, and deeply emotional writing that has made her one of the most iconic literary figures of our time. With a clear, raw, and affecting voice, Shange draws from her experience as a feminist black woman in American to craft groundbreaking poetry about pain, beauty, and color. In the bestselling tradition of Rupi Kaur’s Milk and Honey, Wild Beauty is more than a poetry collection; it is an exquisite call to action for a new generation of women, people of color, feminists, and activists to follow in the author’s footsteps in the pursuit of equality and understanding. As The New York Times raves, “Ntozake Shange writes with such exquisite care and beauty that anyone can relate to her message.”