With a new introduction by poet and editor Kevin Young, this celebratory edition of The Weary Blues reminds us of the stunning achievement of Langston Hughes.

Langston Hughes electrified readers and launched a renaissance in Black writing in America—the poems in this collection were chosen by Hughes himself shortly before his death and represent stunning work from his entire career.
He was a son of Africa who became father to a nation and, for billions of people around the world, a beacon of hope, courage, and perseverance in the face of opposition. Now, acclaimed poet Maya Angelou honors the life and remarkable soul of Nelson Mandela, former president of South Africa and Nobel laureate.
"Though we have encountered our share of grief and troubles on this earth, we can still hold the line of beauty, form, and beat. No small accomplishment in a world as challenging as this one."
I was born to grow,
-- from the preface
alongside my garden of plants,
poems
like
this one
"Poetry is leading us," writes Alice Walker in The World Will Follow Joy. In this luminous collection--a bestseller in hardcover--the beloved writer offers sixty poems to inspire and incite.
“One of her best collections to date.” —Essence

An extraordinary retrospective covering over thirty years of work, From a leading writer of the Black Arts Movement and the American Poetry Society's 2018 Wallace Stevens Award–winner.
Shake Loose My Skin is a stunning testament to the literary, sensual, and political powers of the award-winning Sonia Sanchez.
Now And Then is not merely a collection of a songwriter's lyrics; the song-poems of this undisputed 'bluesologist' triumphantly stand on their own, evoking the rhythm and urgency which have distinguished Gil Scott-Heron's career.
One of the New York Times Book Review's 100 Notable Books
WITH AN APPENDIX OF NEVER-BEFORE-PUBLISHED WORK