Confessions of a Barefaced Woman

(Paperback)

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FINALIST FOR THE NAACP IMAGE AWARD IN POETRY
FEATHERED QUILL BOOK AWARDS
PATERSON POETRY PRIZE
MILT KESSLER POETRY BOOK AWARD
ERIC HOFFER AWARDS

The poems in Allison Joseph's latest collection are smart, shameless, and empowered confessions of the best kind. In semi-autobiographical verse highlighting in turns light-hearted and harsh realities of modern black womanhood, these poems take the reader down "A History of African-American Hair," visit with both Grace Jones and the Venus de Milo, send Janis Joplin to cheerleading camp, bemoan a treacherous first pair of high heels, and discuss "vagina business." Funny, but never flippant, and always forthcoming about the author's own flaws and foibles, Confessions of a Barefaced Woman is sure to keep readers entranced, entertained, and enlightened.

Reviews

Confessions of a Barefaced Woman is the perfect title for Allison Joseph's latest and finest book. She is a force to be reckoned with in these direct, powerful poems. We know where she stands and why, and she welcomes us on the journey through these pages with humor, humility, and grace. She is a master of poetic form and technique, which she artfully integrates into her frank, honest, confiding voice. Whether the subject is African-American hair, the purchase of a first bra, junk food, or liars, or people such as Rick James, Dorothy Parker, Grace Jones, or that Other Allison, she tackles them all here with refreshing clarity and candor. If she has any more confessions, I want to hear them.
Jim Daniels, author of Birth Marks and Show and Tell

Allison Josephs Confessions of a Barefaced Woman is memoirist poetry, a journey of complicated girlhood to nuanced womanhood. The speaker grows from being a Pesky Little Sister to a woman who is in a marriage / saved by frozen foods; from a child learning penmanship to a woman writing poems. Confessions is full of laughter, generosity, intellect, and deep questions about the trap of female beauty, particularly African-American beauty. Allison Joseph knows there is strength in vulnerabilityher barefaced poems glow with no second skin for [her] to wipe away.
Denise Duhamel, author of Blowout

"Enjoy a therapeutic sequence of confessions with Allison Josephs upcoming release: Confessions of a Barefaced Woman. Throughout this 117-page collection of poetry, Joseph explores the life of an African-American woman, yet her poetry is extremely touchable and relatable to all readers no matter what race or background. Josephs vivid imagery sticks with you even after youve put her book down. Her humor and her confessions are her strengths as she explores the intricate, frustrating, and beautiful life of a woman."
Julia Cirignano of juliasbookreviewss

Confessions of a Barefaced Womancontains brave poems that address self-doubt and overcoming such doubt through finding role models in library books, black authors, and Nazi-fighting superheroes, such as Wonder Woman. Josephs lines are lean, musical, and sometimes funny, creating a personal song that weaves family history, feminism, and racial identity into an honest and bold collection: very much the poetry that we need right now.
Brian Fanelli, The Pedestal Magazine.com

Author Bio

Allison Joseph lives, writes, and teaches in Carbondale, Illinois, where she is part of the creative writing faculty at Southern Illinois University. She serves as Editor and Poetry Editor of Crab Orchard Review, moderator of the Creative Writers Opportunities List, and director of the Young Writers Workshop, a summer writers workshop for teen writers.