Make Me Rain: Poems & Prose

(Paperback)

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Description

One of Americas most celebrated poets challenges us with this powerful and deeply personal collection of verse that speaks to the injustices of society while illuminating the depths of her own heart.

For more than fifty years, Nikki Giovannis poetry has dazzled and inspired readers. As sharp and outspoken as ever, she returns with this profound book of poetry in which she continues to call attention to injustice and racism, celebrate Black culture and Black lives, and give readers an unfiltered look into her own experiences.

In Make Me Rain, she celebrates her loved ones and unapologetically declares her pride in her Black heritage, while exploring the enduring impact of the twin sins of racism and white nationalism. Giovanni reaffirms her place as a uniquely vibrant and relevant American voice with poems such as I Come from Athletes and Rainy Dayscalling out segregation and Donald Trump; as well as Unloved (for Aunt Cleota) and When I Could No Longerher personal elegy for the relatives who saved her from an abusive home life.

Stirring, provocative, and resonant, the poems in Make Me Rain pierce the heart and nourish the soul.

Reviews

Black love, Black struggle and Black joy have long been at the center of Giovannis work. Her newest book is thick with affection for African-American people in their everyday lives. New York Times Giovanni . . . celebrates in her poignant 20th collection art as redemptive of traumas past and present, illuminating the way in which the blues is our encyclopedia . . . The most memorable moments in the collection reveal the cutting directness that made her a laureate of the Black Arts Movement. Publishers Weekly Nikki Giovannione of the great poets of any generationstill has much to impart in Make Me Rain, her hybrid autobiography of poems and prose. Given the tumultuous aspects of 2020, the disruptions and the dislocations of quotidian and public life, theres a refreshing discordance in reading Giovannis newest and especially personal collection... This book is indeed a love letter, a celebration, both musical and soft-spoken, that doesnt shy away from politics or pain, but is, above all, hopeful and thankful... History matters. Storytelling matters. Who we choose to be matters. Nikki Giovannithis collectionreminds us of why. Chicago Review of Books The work of Nikki Giovanni has been as evolutionary as it has been revolutionary. One of the finest poets of our time. . . Her work still resonates. Ebony Nikki Giovannis work has always been remarkable for energy, venturesomeness, direct honesty, and courage. Gwendolyn Brooks

Author Bio

Poet, activist, mother and professor Nikki Giovanni was born in 1943, in Knoxville, Tennessee. Over the span of thirty years, Nikki has received nineteen honorary degrees from colleges and universities.