Elvis Alves

more photos (1)

year in books

Elvis Alves’s Followers (73)

member photo
member photo
member photo
member photo
member photo
member photo
member photo
member photo
member photo
member photo
member photo
member photo
member photo
member photo
member photo
member photo
member photo
member photo
member photo
member photo
member photo
member photo
member photo
member photo
member photo
member photo
member photo
member photo
member photo
member photo
Ariele ...
856 books | 22 friends

Catherine
110 books | 21 friends

Ayala,
556 books | 81 friends

Abby
554 books | 68 friends

Jonathan
86 books | 497 friends

Justin ...
479 books | 123 friends

Todd No...
1,478 books | 125 friends

J.P. Ho...
60 books | 905 friends

More friends…

Elvis Alves

Goodreads Author


Twitter

Genre

Member Since
July 2013


Elvis Alves (www.elvisalves.com) was born in Guyana and raised in Brooklyn, NY. He is a graduate of Colgate University and Princeton Theological Seminary. His work has appeared in several journals and magazines including Poetry Magazine, Sojourners, Transition, Caribbean Writer Journal, and The Applicant. Elvis is a Pushcart Prize nominated poet. He is the author of Bitter Melon (2013), Ota Benga (2017), I Am No Battlefield But A Forest Of Trees Growing (winner of the Jacopone da Todi Poetry Book Prize) (2018), Black/White: We Are Not Panic (Pandemic) Free (2020), Blackfish (2022), and This Is What I Know (2023). His latest book is Exile Is Home (2025). In 2025, he was a finalist for the Poetic Justice Institute Editor's Prize (Fordham Univ ...more

To ask Elvis Alves questions, please sign up.

Popular Answered Questions

Elvis Alves Rouchswalwe. Thanks for checking in, and for the question. Yes. I do cook. I love to cook. But I am most curious about the process of cooking. I see c…moreRouchswalwe. Thanks for checking in, and for the question. Yes. I do cook. I love to cook. But I am most curious about the process of cooking. I see cooking as a science. One creates when one cooks, so it's an art form to me (like writng poetry:) I also see it as tying one to a specific culture or location. This was on my mind when I wrote the verse that you quoted. What do the foods I cook and eat say about me, about where I am from? So, food serves a very important role in my writing. You can say that it's like a historical document that I search for meaning (along with being scientific). I do a similar thing with music and with language. (less)
Average rating: 4.57 · 77 ratings · 23 reviews · 10 distinct worksSimilar authors
Bitter Melon

4.32 avg rating — 41 ratings — published 2013 — 2 editions
Rate this book
Clear rating
Ota Benga

4.82 avg rating — 11 ratings2 editions
Rate this book
Clear rating
I Am No Battlefield but a F...

4.86 avg rating — 7 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
The Hoot and Hare Review (N...

by
it was amazing 5.00 avg rating — 6 ratings — published 2013
Rate this book
Clear rating
Blackfish

4.67 avg rating — 6 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
Black/White: We Are Not Pan...

it was amazing 5.00 avg rating — 5 ratings2 editions
Rate this book
Clear rating
Exile Is Home

it was amazing 5.00 avg rating — 1 rating
Rate this book
Clear rating
This Is What I Know

0.00 avg rating — 0 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
rainy weather days: Volume ...

by
0.00 avg rating — 0 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
rainy weather days: Volume ...

by
0.00 avg rating — 0 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
More books by Elvis Alves…

Dreams




p.p1 {margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px 'Times New Roman'; color: #000000; -webkit-text-stroke: #000000} p.p2 {margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px 'Times New Roman'; color: #000000; -webkit-text-stroke: #000000; min-height: 15.0px} span.s1 {font-kerning: none}


1.are made of silver and gold in the belly of a whalemoving to land full speed ahead of the storm that
catches and de Read more of this blog post »
 •  0 comments  •  flag
Share on Twitter
Published on January 10, 2020 13:00
The Book
Rate this book
Clear rating

 
Sing, Unburied, Sing
Elvis Alves is currently reading
by Jesmyn Ward (Goodreads Author)
bookshelves: currently-reading
Rate this book
Clear rating

 
Black-Eyed Susans...
Rate this book
Clear rating

 

Elvis’s Recent Updates

Elvis Alves is on page 40 of 285 of Sing, Unburied, Sing
Sing, Unburied, Sing by Jesmyn Ward
Sing, Unburied, Sing
by Jesmyn Ward (Goodreads Author)
progress: 
 
Rate this book
Clear rating
Elvis Alves is on page 30 of 96 of The Book
The Book by Mary Ruefle
Rate this book
Clear rating
Elvis Alves is currently reading
The Book by Mary Ruefle
Rate this book
Clear rating
Elvis Alves rated a book really liked it
Whereas by Layli Long Soldier
Rate this book
Clear rating
Elvis Alves is currently reading
Whereas by Layli Long Soldier
Rate this book
Clear rating
Elvis Alves started reading
Sing, Unburied, Sing by Jesmyn Ward
Sing, Unburied, Sing
by Jesmyn Ward (Goodreads Author)
Rate this book
Clear rating
Elvis Alves rated a book really liked it
Soap Bubble by Nimi Wariboko
Rate this book
Clear rating
Elvis Alves wants to read
The Workshop Survival Guide by Rob  Fitzpatrick
Rate this book
Clear rating
Elvis Alves wants to read
Made to Stick by Chip Heath
Rate this book
Clear rating
Elvis Alves wants to read
How to Write Clearly by Tom Albrighton
Rate this book
Clear rating
More of Elvis's books…
Chinua Achebe
“The world is like a Mask dancing. If you want to see it well, you do not stand in one place.”
Chinua Achebe

Lucille Clifton
“You might as well answer the door, my child,
the truth is furiously knocking.”
Lucille Clifton, Good Woman: Poems and a Memoir 1969-1980

Zora Neale Hurston
“Love makes your soul crawl out from its hiding place.”
Zora Neale Hurston

Nelson Mandela
“Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world.”
Nelson Mandela

26989 Goodreads Authors/Readers — 56704 members — last activity 27 minutes ago
This group is dedicated to connecting readers with Goodreads authors. It is divided by genres, and includes folders for writing resources, book websit ...more
233 ¡ POETRY ! — 22522 members — last activity May 20, 2026 01:47PM
No pretensions: just poetry. Stop by, recommend books, offer up poems (excerpted), tempt us, taunt us, tell us what to read and where to go (to read ...more
109784 GOOD REVIEWS — 8680 members — last activity May 18, 2026 03:40AM
This Group is only for authors who are looking for reviews and Reviewers who love to read books and share their reviews.
154447 Support for Indie Authors — 16662 members — last activity May 19, 2026 02:17PM
Officially 15k Members Strong & Climbing!! Building and supporting a community of self-published authors dedicated to both sharing experiences and le ...more
87303 Goodreads Choice Awards Book Club — 17349 members — last activity May 20, 2026 09:18AM
You just found the Official unofficial Goodreads Choice Awards Book Club. We will read the Goodreads Choice Awards winning books throughout the year b ...more
More of Elvis’s groups…
Comments (showing 1-2)    post a comment »
dateDown arrow    newest »

message 2: by Elvis

Elvis Alves For a limited time, read Ota Benga for free on #Kindle, http://amzn.to/2Bjxlk3


message 1: by Elvis

Elvis Alves Download and read Bitter Melon for free here: http://amzn.to/Hpf9p9 Promotional offer ends 10/28.


back to top