Helen Plum Library

"Nida has always been known as Mamou Abdul-Hafeedh's niece--the poet who will fill her uncle's shoes after he was wrongfully incarcerated during the war on terror. But for Nida, her poetry letters are her heart and sharing so much of herself with a world that stereotypes her faith and her hijab is not an option. When Nida is illegally frisked at a Democratic Senatorial candidate's political rally, she writes a scathing poem about the politician, never...

"First English translation of new poetry by the late Mahmoud Darwish, the most important Palestinian contemporary poet. When the Palestinian poet Mahmoud Darwish died in 2008, his friends visited his home and retrieved poems and writings some of which are gathered together in this volume, translated into English for the first time. They include three collections from different phases in Darwish's writing career, as well as reminiscences by friends...

"Samira is determined to have a perfect summer filled with fun parties, exploring DC, and growing as a poet--until a scandalous rumor has her grounded and unable to leave her house. When Samira turns to a poetry forum for solace, she catches the eye of an older, charismatic poet named Horus. For the first time, Samira feels wanted. But soon she's keeping a bigger secret than ever before--one that that could prove her reputation and jeopardize her...

In a small, remote village in the Outer Scottish Hebrides, Kirsty yearns for adventure and another life across the ocean. Though she finds comfort in time spent with her mother and younger sister, she sees hope and a future with Murdo, an intelligent, curious poet. The two fall in love as World War I looms, and Murdo is soon conscripted to join the other men of the village to fight. As a gesture of farewell, the village hosts a road dance, a celebration...

"Darius Stewart spent his childhood in the Lonsdale projects of Knoxville, where he grew up navigating school, friendship, and his own family life in a context that often felt perilous. As we learn about his life in Tennessee, Texas, and Iowa, he details the obstacles to his most crucial desires: hiding his earliest attraction to boys in his neighborhood, doomed affairs, his struggles with alcohol addiction, and his eventual diagnosis with HIV. A...

"A wrenching, sexy, and exhilaratingly energetic memoir in verse."--

"Blake Butler and Molly Brodak instantly connected, fell in love, married and built a life together. Both writers with deep roots in contemporary American literature, their union was an iconic joining of forces between two major and beloved talents. Nearly three years into their marriage, grappling with mental illness and a lifetime of trauma, Molly took her own life. In the days and weeks after Molly's death, Blake discovered shocking secrets she...