Colorlines Race and Culture Summer Reading List

Summer reading suggestions in poetry and fiction from Colorlines. To see more recommendations in history, children’s literature, activism, art, and memoir, read the full article.

If They Come for Us by Fatimah Asghar

If They Come for Us by Fatimah AsgharMuslim-American poet Fatimah Asghar navigates intergenerational violence, vulnerability and love in her collection If They Come for Us (Penguin Random House).

Don’t Let Them See Me Like This by Jasmine Gibson

Don't Let Them See Me Like This by Jasmine GibsonIn her debut poetry collection, Don’t Let Them See Me Like This, Jasmine Gibson unearths the brutality of capitalism, biopolitics and White supremacy and explores desire and the idea of political insurgency (Nightboat).

SWOLE by Jerika Marchan

SWOLE by Jerika MarchanJerika Marchan’s SWOLE is a lyric response to environmental racism and the irreversible impact of Hurricane Katrina (Future Poem).

Love War Stories by Ivelisse Rodriguez

Love War Stories by Ivelisse RodriguezLove War Stories is a collection of short stories about Puerto Rican women and girls and their understanding of love and its myths (The Feminist Press).

New Poets of Native Nations

New Poets of Native NationsNew Poets of Native Nations topples racist and essentialist assumptions about poetry written by Native American writers in an anthology filled with diverse styles and lyricism (Graywolf Press).

What We Lose by Zinzi Clemmons

What We Lose by Zinzi ClemmonsZinzi Clemmons’ novel What We Lose, loosely based on the author’s experience of caring for her dying mother, is a fragmented story of grief and diasporic identity (Penguin Random House).

Kenyon Review’s Summer Reading List

Kenyon Review's Summer Reading List

David Lynn, Editor

Burnt Shadows by Kamila ShamsieBurnt Shadows by Kamila Shamsie. Shamsie, a Pakistani writer who also lives in London, opens this powerful novel in Nagasaki, shortly before its destruction. The young woman protagonist, who is one of the few survivors, leaves Japan and continues her life, forever transformed, in India, Turkey, Pakistan, and beyond. This is not Shamsie’s most recent novel, but it is one of great power and lyrical beauty.

Book of Hours

Likewise, perhaps, Kevin Young has been publishing in a variety of genres, and his most recent book of poems, Brown, has received enthusiastic reviews. I’ve been reading his Book of Hours, however, an astonishing poetic engagement with grief, loss, and death. Superb and accessible poems.

 

Finally, the first novel by a young Kenyon author of extraordinary talent, Meghan Kenny. The Driest Season is spare, wise, lyrical, and potent. It’s a quick read and one I highly recommend.

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