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Blue Laws
Blue Laws: Selected and Uncollected Poems, 1995-2015 | Kevin Young
6 posts | 1 read | 3 to read
A rich and lively gathering of highlights from the first twenty years of an extraordinary career, interspersed with “B sides” and “bonus tracks” from this prolific and widely acclaimed poet. Blue Laws gathers poems written over the past two decades, drawing from all nine of Kevin Young’s previously published books of poetry and including a number of uncollected, often unpublished, poems. From his stunning lyric debut (Most Way Home, 1995) and the amazing “double album” life of Jean-Michel Basquiat (2001, “remixed” for Knopf in 2005), through his brokenhearted Jelly Roll: A Blues (2003) and his recent forays into adult grief and the joys of birth in Dear Darkness (2008) and Book of Hours (2014), this collection provides a grand tour of a poet whose personal poems and political poems are equally riveting. Together with wonderful outtakes and previously unseen blues, the profoundly felt poems here of family, Southern food, and loss are of a piece with the depth of personal sensibility and humanity found in his Ardency: A Chronicle of the Amistad Rebels or bold sequences such as “The Ballad of Jim Crow” and a new “Homage to Phillis Wheatley.” From the Hardcover edition.
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vivastory
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I don't use SimplyE, but I thought several people might be interested in this. Also, I definitely recommend Kevin Young's poetry as part of self-education of racial issues. A great sampling is in the tagged book.

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vivastory
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1) I do! There was a period of several years where probably 80% of my reading was either poetry or related to poetry. I love the charge you get from the concentrated use of language, the mental drift of metaphorical & associative thinking.
2) Both. Although I'm not real big on full rhyme, some of my favorites wrote slant rhyme. I think form can be fascinating & with the right guide easy to get. I recommend Hirsch's Poet's Glossary.
3) Rec tagged.

BookmarkTavern I love slant rhymes. They get so creative. Thank you for sharing! 4y
Bookishlie I am not a poetry person:( 4y
55 likes3 comments
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libchristina
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Pickpick

Wow. A great collection of poems!

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libchristina
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Omg 😂

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libchristina
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Whew

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NationalBook
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Come find us at the Brooklyn Book Festival, booth 227, where we've got copies of some books Longlisted for the National Book Awards, like Kevin Young's BLUE LAWS. Then visit our friends at @Litsy next door!

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