Sonia Sanchez – författare

‘The poetry of Sonia Sanchez is full of power and yet always clean and uncluttered. It makes you wish you had thought those thoughts, felt those emotions, and, above all, expressed them so effortlessly and so well’ Chinua Achebe‘Only a poet with an innocent heart can exorcise so much pain with so much beauty’ Isabel Allende‘A lion in literature’s forest’ Maya AngelouA dazzling selection of poems from one of the most beloved American poets, whose distinctive verse resonates around the globeFew poets in history have possessed the irrepressible humanity and ‘abundant positivity’ that characterise Sonia Sanchez’s astonishing body of work.Energetic, infectious and rich with sonic exuberance, Sanchez’s poems have radically transformed the direction of American poetry over the past six decades and have been an inspiration to readers around the world. Whether it’s her iconic haiku, rhythmic ballads or devastating elegies, Sanchez’s lyric, luminous and ‘lovely as chandeliers’, thrums with a profound generosity and an international consciousness, rendering all of life’s agony and ecstasy. This volume pulls from across Sanchez’s diverse repertoire to showcase the multiplicities of the poet’s voice – the profound and personal, the firebrand and socially conscious, the playful and formally dextrous, and the musical – to celebrate her as one of the world’s most skilled and versatile poets of the past half century.

Before the first Christmas light is strung, Grandma is hard at work, making thousands of tamales to sell so she can buy gifts for her family! This heartwarming tale, based on a true story, explores a grandmother's boundless generosity, and the irresistible magic of tamales.A PUBLISHERS WEEKLY BEST BOOK OF THE YEARWhen the weather changes, but way before the Christmas tree is decorated, Grandma begins her preparations. With so many children and grandchildren in her family, she finds a way to put gifts under the tree-- she sells as many tamales as she can! Masa in one hand, corn husks in the other, Grandma’s just getting started. 15 dozen tamales. As Halloween passes, and Thanksgiving, Grandma is still toiling away in the kitchen: 150 dozen tamales, 700 dozen tamales, 850 dozen tamales. When it’s time to string the lights for Christmas, she’s inching closer to 1000 dozen tamales! Enough to give some to those in need and enough to sell to earn money for Christmas gifts.Based on the author’s own grandmother, who was the heart of the familia, here is a warm story about Christmas, generosity, and, yes, tamales.

Winner of the American Book AwardA classic of the Black Arts Movement brought back to life in a refreshed edition“A lion in literature’s forest. When she writes she roars, and when she sleeps other creatures walk gingerly.”—Maya AngelouOriginally published in 1984, this collection of prose, prose poems, and lyric verses is as fresh and radical today as it was then. Sonia Sanchez, the premiere poet of the Black Arts Movement, shows the “razor blades” in clenched in her teeth in these powerful pieces.

An inspirational keepsake from the multiple award-winning writer and activistDynamic and legendary, poet and activist Sonia Sanchez is one of the most esteemed poets in contemporary American literature. Now for her fans and new readers alike comes this giftable quote book, containing some of her most powerful writing from her previously published volumes and in an attractive, paper-over-board package.With nearly 40 verses and quotations, this collection explores themes of love, resistance, and social justice. Sample excerpts include:On love: “your hands/humming hurricanes of beauty.”On resistance: "I write to keep in contact with our ancestors and to spread truth to people.”On social justice: "...if we the people work, organize, resist,come together for peace, racial, socialand sexual justiceit'll get betterit'll get better.”A prominent member of the Black Arts Movement of the 1960s and 1970s and a pioneer in education, Sanchez’s career has spanned decades, spawned more than 20 books and countless other writings, with Sanchez herself receiving numerous accolades and awards. Carefully selected to inspire, and perfect for casual reading and contemplation, this is the ideal gift for fans and new readers alike.

An extraordinary retrospective covering over thirty years of work, Shake Loose My Skin is a stunning testament to the literary, sensual, and political powers of the award-winning Sonia Sanchez.

This new volume by the much-loved poet Sonia Sanchez, her first in over a decade, is music to the ears: a collection of haiku that celebrates the gifts of life and mourns the deaths of revered African American figures in the worlds of music, literature, art, and activism. In her verses, we hear the sounds of Max Roach "exploding in the universe," the "blue hallelujahs" of the Philadelphia Murals, and the voice of Odetta "thundering out of the earth." Sanchez sings the praises of contemporaries whose poetic alchemy turns "words into gems": Maya Angelou, Richard Long, and Toni Morrison. And she pays homage to peace workers and civil rights activists from Rosa Parks and Congresswoman Shirley Chisholm to Brother Damu, founder of the National Black Environmental Justice Network. Often arranged in strings of twelve or more, the haiku flow one into the other in a steady song of commemoration. Sometimes deceptively simple, her lyrics hold a very powerful load of emotion and meaning.There are intimate verses here for family and friends, verses of profound loss and silence, of courage and resilience. Sanchez is innovative, composing haiku in new forms, including a section of moving two-line poems that reflect on the long wake of 9/11. In a brief and personal opening essay, the poet explains her deep appreciation for haiku as an art form. With its touching portraits and by turns uplifting and heartbreaking lyrics, Morning Haiku contains some of Sanchez''s freshest, most poignant work.

Nominated for the 1998 National Book Critics Circle Award for PoetryRecommended Reading from EmergeAn epic poem on kin estranged, the death of a brother from AIDS, and the possibility of reconciliation and love in the face of loss.

Renowned African-American poet Sonia Sanchez explores the pain, self-doubt, and anger that emerge in women''s lives: an unfaithful life partner, a brutal rape, the murder of a woman by her granddaughter, the ravages of drugs. Sanchez transforms the unspoken and sometimes violent betrayals of our lives into a liberating vision of connection in emotional redemption, compassion, and self-fulfillment.

Like the Singing Coming off the Drums is a dazzling exploration of the intimate and public landscapes of passion from one of our master poets. In haiku, tanka, and sensual blues, Sonia Sanchez writes of the many forms love takes: burning, dreamy, disappointed, vulnerable. With words that revel and reveal, she shares love''s painful beauty.

Sonia Sanchez is a prolific, award-winning poet and one of the most prominent writers in the Black Arts movement. This collection brings her plays together in one volume for the first time. Like her poetry, Sanchez’s plays voice her critique of the racism and sexism that she encountered as a young female writer in the black militant community in the late 1960s and early 1970s, her ongoing concern with the well-being of the black community, and her commitment to social justice. In addition to The Bronx Is Next (1968), Sister Son/ji (1969), Dirty Hearts (1971), Malcolm/Man Don’t Live Here No Mo (1972), and Uh, Uh; But How Do It Free Us? (1974), this collection includes the never-before-published dramas I’m Black When I’m Singing, I’m Blue When I Ain’t (1982) and 2 X 2 (2009), as well as three essays in which Sanchez reflects on her art and activism. Jacqueline Wood’s introduction illuminates Sanchez’s stagecraft in relation to her poetry and advocacy for social change, and the feminist dramatic voice in black revolutionary art.

Sonia Sanchez is a prolific, award-winning poet and one of the most prominent writers in the Black Arts movement. This collection brings her plays together in one volume for the first time. Like her poetry, Sanchez’s plays voice her critique of the racism and sexism that she encountered as a young female writer in the black militant community in the late 1960s and early 1970s, her ongoing concern with the well-being of the black community, and her commitment to social justice. In addition to The Bronx Is Next (1968), Sister Son/ji (1969), Dirty Hearts (1971), Malcolm/Man Don’t Live Here No Mo (1972), and Uh, Uh; But How Do It Free Us? (1974), this collection includes the never-before-published dramas I’m Black When I’m Singing, I’m Blue When I Ain’t (1982) and 2 X 2 (2009), as well as three essays in which Sanchez reflects on her art and activism. Jacqueline Wood’s introduction illuminates Sanchez’s stagecraft in relation to her poetry and advocacy for social change, and the feminist dramatic voice in black revolutionary art.

This volume brings together a broad range of key writings from the Black Arts Movement of the 1960s and 1970s, among the most significant cultural movements in American history. The aesthetic counterpart of the Black Power movement, it burst onto the scene in the form of artists’ circles, writers’ workshops, drama groups, dance troupes, new publishing ventures, bookstores, and cultural centers and had a presence in practically every community and college campus with an appreciable African American population. Black Arts activists extended its reach even further through magazines such as Ebony and Jet, on television shows such as Soul! and Like It Is, and on radio programs.Many of the movement’s leading artists, including Ed Bullins, Nikki Giovanni, Woodie King, Haki Madhubuti, Sonia Sanchez, Askia Touré, and Val Gray Ward remain artistically productive today. Its influence can also be seen in the work of later artists, from the writers Toni Morrison, John Edgar Wideman, and August Wilson to actors Avery Brooks, Danny Glover, and Samuel L. Jackson, to hip hop artists Mos Def, Talib Kweli, and Chuck D.SOS—Calling All Black People includes works of fiction, poetry, and drama in addition to critical writings on issues of politics, aesthetics, and gender. It covers topics ranging from the legacy of Malcolm X and the impact of John Coltrane’s jazz to the tenets of the Black Panther Party and the music of Motown. The editors have provided a substantial introduction outlining the nature, history, and legacy of the Black Arts Movement as well as the principles by which the anthology was assembled.