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Poemhood: Our Black Revival: History, Folklore & the Black Experience: A Young Adult Poetry Anthology – Diverse Voices from Ancestors Celebrating Heritage and Joy
Starring thirty-seven poets, with contributions from acclaimed authors, including Kwame Alexander, Ibi Zoboi, and Nikki Giovanni, this breathtaking Black YA poetry anthology edited by National Book Award finalist Amber McBride, Taylor Byas, and Erica Martin celebrates Black poetry, folklore, and culture.
Come, claim your wings.
Lift your life above the earth,
return to the land of your father’s birth.
What exactly is it to be Black in America?
Well, for some, it’s learning how to morph the hatred placed by others into love for oneself; for others, it’s unearthing the strength it takes to continue to hold one’s swagger when multitudinous factors work to make Black lives crumble. For some, it’s gathering around the kitchen table as Grandma tells the story of Anansi the spider, while for others it's grinning from ear to ear while eating auntie’s spectacular 7Up cake.
Black experiences and traditions are complex, striking, and vast—they stretch longer than the Nile and are four times as deep—and carry more than just unimaginable pain—there is also joy.
Featuring an all-star group of thirty-seven powerful poetic voices, including such luminaries as Kwame Alexander, James Baldwin, Ibi Zoboi, Audre Lorde, Nikki Giovanni, and Gwendolyn Brooks, this riveting anthology depicts the diversity of the Black experience by fostering a conversation about race, faith, heritage, and resilience between fresh poets and the literary ancestors that came before them.
Edited by Taylor Byas, Erica Martin, and Coretta Scott King New Talent Award winner Amber McBride, Poemhood will simultaneously highlight the duality and nuance at the crux of so many Black experiences with poetry being the psalm constantly playing.
Come, claim your wings.
Lift your life above the earth,
return to the land of your father’s birth.
What exactly is it to be Black in America?
Well, for some, it’s learning how to morph the hatred placed by others into love for oneself; for others, it’s unearthing the strength it takes to continue to hold one’s swagger when multitudinous factors work to make Black lives crumble. For some, it’s gathering around the kitchen table as Grandma tells the story of Anansi the spider, while for others it's grinning from ear to ear while eating auntie’s spectacular 7Up cake.
Black experiences and traditions are complex, striking, and vast—they stretch longer than the Nile and are four times as deep—and carry more than just unimaginable pain—there is also joy.
Featuring an all-star group of thirty-seven powerful poetic voices, including such luminaries as Kwame Alexander, James Baldwin, Ibi Zoboi, Audre Lorde, Nikki Giovanni, and Gwendolyn Brooks, this riveting anthology depicts the diversity of the Black experience by fostering a conversation about race, faith, heritage, and resilience between fresh poets and the literary ancestors that came before them.
Edited by Taylor Byas, Erica Martin, and Coretta Scott King New Talent Award winner Amber McBride, Poemhood will simultaneously highlight the duality and nuance at the crux of so many Black experiences with poetry being the psalm constantly playing.
160 pages, Hardcover
First published January 30, 2024
30 people are currently reading
3758 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 118 reviews
November 16, 2023
2023 reads: 349/350
i won a giveaway for a digital review copy of this book from the publisher. this did not affect my rating.
this poetry anthology explores what it is to be black in america. this includes modern authors and poets as well as classic authors and poets. i really enjoyed how this collection was structured. each poem was accompanied by an outro which makes this more accessible for those who have trouble with poetry or may not know the history behind the poem.
i won a giveaway for a digital review copy of this book from the publisher. this did not affect my rating.
this poetry anthology explores what it is to be black in america. this includes modern authors and poets as well as classic authors and poets. i really enjoyed how this collection was structured. each poem was accompanied by an outro which makes this more accessible for those who have trouble with poetry or may not know the history behind the poem.
March 29, 2025
✨4 stars✨
March 28, 2025
4 Stars
McBride’s poetry explores identity, history, and resilience in a way that feels both deeply personal and universally important.
McBride’s poetry explores identity, history, and resilience in a way that feels both deeply personal and universally important.
September 10, 2023
There are two things I'm looking at here. One: the collection itself, which is easily a five-star assortment of poems arranged around four central themes. I have slightly mixed feelings about how much this anthology draws from past authors, but it worked for the interwoven themes of the anthology.
Then there's the other element, which frustrated me: each 'track' is accompanied by an outro that, allegedly, explains something about the poem. Nearly all of these are written in an oddly upbeat and tautological style that may be appropriate for middle schoolers, possibly. Often they'll include lines like, "The poet even goes so far as to say..." and then includes lines of the poem that are quite literally on the same page. There were only a few cases in which I felt like the outros added anything. They read as though they were written for a much younger audience than the poems themselves, specifically in terms of language and content. I really like the idea of presenting outside information that a younger reader may not know about historical facts, symbolism, etc., but the specific details often didn't work for me.
Outros aside, there were some truly lovely and heartbreaking poems in here, which address a variety of topics about Blackness in general, our about specific experiences of the poets. Some of the pieces exist in conversation with other poems and/or poets. Even though I didn't care for the outros themselves, I think this book was designed to engage with younger readers who may feel that most poetry isn't accessible to them or doesn't speak to their experiences. Overall, I believe it did a good job of that.
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for allowing me to read this book as an ARC.
Then there's the other element, which frustrated me: each 'track' is accompanied by an outro that, allegedly, explains something about the poem. Nearly all of these are written in an oddly upbeat and tautological style that may be appropriate for middle schoolers, possibly. Often they'll include lines like, "The poet even goes so far as to say..." and then includes lines of the poem that are quite literally on the same page. There were only a few cases in which I felt like the outros added anything. They read as though they were written for a much younger audience than the poems themselves, specifically in terms of language and content. I really like the idea of presenting outside information that a younger reader may not know about historical facts, symbolism, etc., but the specific details often didn't work for me.
Outros aside, there were some truly lovely and heartbreaking poems in here, which address a variety of topics about Blackness in general, our about specific experiences of the poets. Some of the pieces exist in conversation with other poems and/or poets. Even though I didn't care for the outros themselves, I think this book was designed to engage with younger readers who may feel that most poetry isn't accessible to them or doesn't speak to their experiences. Overall, I believe it did a good job of that.
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for allowing me to read this book as an ARC.
June 20, 2024
Mixed feelings about this collection. As a whole, the anthology felt a bit lopsided thematically to me. The most moving poems in this collection reflected on the universal of the Black Experience in ways that were still deeply personal to the writer. The poems I wasn't as excited about seemed more like an assemblage of general Black Experience tropes, which got repetitive the longer I read.
While I do love the concept of poem "outros" that offer insights into a poem to make understanding them more accessible, I felt not every explanation added that insight. I did appreciate extra reading on regional or ancestral traditions I might not know about, or hearing from the author about what people in their life empowered them to write the narrative they did. I don't need a blurb simply summarizing the vibes of a poem though.
Favorites were Power by Audre Lorde, Moon Wants in on the Groove by DeeSoul Carson, and the untitled James Baldwin piece in the chapter Track 7.
While I do love the concept of poem "outros" that offer insights into a poem to make understanding them more accessible, I felt not every explanation added that insight. I did appreciate extra reading on regional or ancestral traditions I might not know about, or hearing from the author about what people in their life empowered them to write the narrative they did. I don't need a blurb simply summarizing the vibes of a poem though.
Favorites were Power by Audre Lorde, Moon Wants in on the Groove by DeeSoul Carson, and the untitled James Baldwin piece in the chapter Track 7.
February 8, 2024
Many thanks to Harper360YA for the digital review copy!
This is one of those books that should be taught in schools. It's an amazing introductory resource into both historical and contemporary Black poetry. I'm not the hugest poetry reader, but this was a really interesting experience for me. I especially loved the context added to the poems, which made the poems more accessible and invited the reader to read the poems more attentively and critically. In this way it made some more complex poetry more accessible for young adult readers, not by "dumbing down" the reading material, but my creating a bridge of knowledge and understanding between the poem and the reader. I think teaching (part of) this collection in literature lessons would make for a really valuable learning experience and can lead to really important conversations.
This is one of those books that should be taught in schools. It's an amazing introductory resource into both historical and contemporary Black poetry. I'm not the hugest poetry reader, but this was a really interesting experience for me. I especially loved the context added to the poems, which made the poems more accessible and invited the reader to read the poems more attentively and critically. In this way it made some more complex poetry more accessible for young adult readers, not by "dumbing down" the reading material, but my creating a bridge of knowledge and understanding between the poem and the reader. I think teaching (part of) this collection in literature lessons would make for a really valuable learning experience and can lead to really important conversations.
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July 29, 2025This is a collection of poetry that needs to be read in small doses to fully immerse into each one. I found the small footnotes of information about each poem interesting, though I'm unsure if necessary.
March 25, 2024
Thank you to Harper360YA and Netgalley for providing me with an eARC for review!
What a powerful anthology! I'm not the biggest poetry fan but I found this collection to be really accessible, with a short outro following each poem to explain a bit more about it, and I thought that the way the poems were divided up into four "volumes" was a great call as it made me look for a common vein or theme while each poem remained so unique. This anthology did an amazing job of giving us readers a taste of just how vast and rich the history of the Black experience is. I found that not every poem in the collection particularly resonated with me, but I came away with so much to think about and would highly recommend this book to poetry and non-poetry readers alike! Happy Reading :)
What a powerful anthology! I'm not the biggest poetry fan but I found this collection to be really accessible, with a short outro following each poem to explain a bit more about it, and I thought that the way the poems were divided up into four "volumes" was a great call as it made me look for a common vein or theme while each poem remained so unique. This anthology did an amazing job of giving us readers a taste of just how vast and rich the history of the Black experience is. I found that not every poem in the collection particularly resonated with me, but I came away with so much to think about and would highly recommend this book to poetry and non-poetry readers alike! Happy Reading :)
October 11, 2023
I LOVED this collection!!! I think reading poetry can often be daunting because it references specific ideas/times/notions, without giving much context. By far my favorite thing about this collection is that for every poem, there’s a blurb after that explains its significance, what it’s referencing, and the context within which it was written. This collection includes some poems I’d read previously, but I now understand them in a completely different way. It also includes a lot of poems/poets unfamiliar to me. I love the variety in topics, authors, and writing styles. Really an incredible collection that I think everyone could enjoy.
March 26, 2024
A must read! Such powerful, insightful poems, that are well performed and gave me chills multiple times! The background information added about what inspired the poem is so valuable!
July 14, 2024
Poemhood is a beautiful unique collection! Since there are so many different poets involved each entry is written with a different prose and voice. I loved how after each entry there is an outro giving a brief explanation about the meaning of the poem. This really helped me connect to pieces that I might have overlooked or not fully understood.
Poemhood is a collection that celebrates resilience, joy, folklore, and the complexities of being Black in America. I really like how Black culture is compared to water, that like water, Black culture seeps into many aspects of society. This is true is so many ways!
Poemhood is a collection that celebrates resilience, joy, folklore, and the complexities of being Black in America. I really like how Black culture is compared to water, that like water, Black culture seeps into many aspects of society. This is true is so many ways!
February 16, 2024
Beautiful poetry and I love that there are “outros” after each poem to explain its significance.
September 16, 2024
POEMHOOD: OUR BLACK REVIVAL is a fantastic YA poetry anthology that challenges the idea that Black culture is monolithic. Its poems showcase a range of experiences, emotions, and folktales. The introduction helps frame the anthology for teenagers, sharing that some of the motifs they will see throughout the book (water, African Americans growing wings) are part of a rich literary tradition that is often overlooked in high school curricula.
Poems by living poets are mixed in with poems by “OGs” (Lucille Clifton, Audre Lorde, James Baldwin, Langston Hughes, etc.), allowing readers to see how these poets have been and continue to be in conversation with one another. I also appreciate how each poem is followed by an outro that helps to share additional context for the poem. Some of these outros were helpful to me as an adult reader—for example, I hadn’t known about the murder of 10-year-old Clifford Glover by a police officer in the ’70s—and some didn’t really add anything new, but I love that they will help make these poems more accessible to young people.
A great addition to any classroom library!
Poems by living poets are mixed in with poems by “OGs” (Lucille Clifton, Audre Lorde, James Baldwin, Langston Hughes, etc.), allowing readers to see how these poets have been and continue to be in conversation with one another. I also appreciate how each poem is followed by an outro that helps to share additional context for the poem. Some of these outros were helpful to me as an adult reader—for example, I hadn’t known about the murder of 10-year-old Clifford Glover by a police officer in the ’70s—and some didn’t really add anything new, but I love that they will help make these poems more accessible to young people.
A great addition to any classroom library!
May 27, 2024
this was some of the best poetry I have ever read. such beautiful work and moving pieces that educated me in all the ways I was hoping. I loved how each poem had a outro. my advice: read each poem again after the outro. it will help you if you didn’t understand it the first time, and it will put everything into perspective.
“We often hear stories about Zeus, Hades, Rapunzel, or
Cinderella, and nothing about Anansi, Adze, or John Henry…”
I have loved mythology and folklore and learning about the rich history of Black mythology and folklore was fascinating.
My favorite pieces:
Power by Audre Lorde
the South by Erica Martin
(un)chained by Erica Martin
Textured by Kandace Fuller
I recommend this for all poetry lovers, folklore and mythology lovers, and all educators. this is a book worth reading and passing down.
“We often hear stories about Zeus, Hades, Rapunzel, or
Cinderella, and nothing about Anansi, Adze, or John Henry…”
I have loved mythology and folklore and learning about the rich history of Black mythology and folklore was fascinating.
My favorite pieces:
Power by Audre Lorde
the South by Erica Martin
(un)chained by Erica Martin
Textured by Kandace Fuller
I recommend this for all poetry lovers, folklore and mythology lovers, and all educators. this is a book worth reading and passing down.
October 7, 2025
Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars
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I was gifted this book as an e-ARC by HarperCollins UK. Thanks very much!
Poetry usually isn't my cup of tea, to be honest. I studied English literature and poetry was, of course, a very large part of this studies. I learned that, where I despised the poetry of the early modern and the romantic periods, I actually really loved the classes about black poetry. Even though I don't always find the poetry itself as appealing, I really love unravelling the texts and discovering more about black culture. I like to see myself as an open and accepting person, but during my studies I realised that you also need to put in effort to learn about other cultures. A good way to do so is through literature.
That's why I really wanted to read this book. It's a poetry collection of different black authors and I really loved reading it! What I especially liked about this book is how accessible it is for people that don't know much about either poetry, black culture and literature or both. The poems and other texts in this book are not difficult at all to read and understand - as poetry can sometimes be - and every text is followed by a paragraph of explanation: what's in the text? What does it mean? But also: how do the authors (and possibly other black people) feel about this? Are the poems written due to an event or perhaps due to a general feeling/emotion? It's really interesting to dive deeper into these texts and reflect on them in the light of our current society and also to reflect on your own behaviour.
What I would have liked is for the explanatory paragraphs to be a bit more elaborate. It felt like they only have the most essential information, but I would have liked some more emotion and details I think.
In short, I definitely recommend this book! It's a quick read and the poetry is really nice and accessible. The explanations at the end give a good insight in a culture that's largely unknown to me and of which I'd love to know more.
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I was gifted this book as an e-ARC by HarperCollins UK. Thanks very much!
Poetry usually isn't my cup of tea, to be honest. I studied English literature and poetry was, of course, a very large part of this studies. I learned that, where I despised the poetry of the early modern and the romantic periods, I actually really loved the classes about black poetry. Even though I don't always find the poetry itself as appealing, I really love unravelling the texts and discovering more about black culture. I like to see myself as an open and accepting person, but during my studies I realised that you also need to put in effort to learn about other cultures. A good way to do so is through literature.
That's why I really wanted to read this book. It's a poetry collection of different black authors and I really loved reading it! What I especially liked about this book is how accessible it is for people that don't know much about either poetry, black culture and literature or both. The poems and other texts in this book are not difficult at all to read and understand - as poetry can sometimes be - and every text is followed by a paragraph of explanation: what's in the text? What does it mean? But also: how do the authors (and possibly other black people) feel about this? Are the poems written due to an event or perhaps due to a general feeling/emotion? It's really interesting to dive deeper into these texts and reflect on them in the light of our current society and also to reflect on your own behaviour.
What I would have liked is for the explanatory paragraphs to be a bit more elaborate. It felt like they only have the most essential information, but I would have liked some more emotion and details I think.
In short, I definitely recommend this book! It's a quick read and the poetry is really nice and accessible. The explanations at the end give a good insight in a culture that's largely unknown to me and of which I'd love to know more.
April 24, 2024
Wow! It's been a while since I've read poetry I truly enjoyed. This collection is powerful, and complex, yet very accessible, as the structure of the book is great, and the "Outro" at the end of each poem gives you all the clarity you needed if there was any confusion. The copy I read was borrowed, but adding this to my list of books I NEED to purchase for my home library.
While I enjoyed the entire book these two poems really stuck out to me:
Vol. 1: Track 9: Like a Wildfire by Ashley Woodfolk
Vol. 4: Track 2: A Fable by Etheridge Knight
While I enjoyed the entire book these two poems really stuck out to me:
Vol. 1: Track 9: Like a Wildfire by Ashley Woodfolk
Vol. 4: Track 2: A Fable by Etheridge Knight
September 1, 2024
Such a powerful YA poetry collection that needs to be added to HS or college curriculum. @ambsmcbride @taylorbyaspoet @erica.martin.writes + 35 amazing authors contributed to this book. I loved the layout with the poem then the Outro to explain the history of meaning of the poem. Many students need that when reading poetry.
CW: racism, slavery, confinement, police brutality, colonization, grief, death, cancer, abandonment, violence
CW: racism, slavery, confinement, police brutality, colonization, grief, death, cancer, abandonment, violence
March 12, 2024
4.5 rounded to 5. I loved this, and I can't wait to put it in my teens' hands for poetry month.
May 31, 2025
I enjoyed these poems so interesting and truthful.
June 8, 2024
The style and structure of this book fits its genre perfectly. Accessible length, diversity of voice, well-designed and concise outtros give teens and any reader a taste of the wide and individual concerns of people continuously fighting for equality and justice through far too many years and generations. It is strong and does not apologize or explain itself. 👏
September 22, 2024
I love reading poetry but I fear my mind is no longer as well equipped to read it as she used to be!
October 13, 2024
I liked the explanation of each poem, but I was not a fan of many of the poems.
March 6, 2024
Thank you so much to Harper360YA for an e-arc in exchange of an honest review.
Poemhood: Our Black Revival was an absolutely beautiful collection of poetry from many talented poets. Focusing on History, Folklore and the Black Experience this is an anthology that you should definitely reach for.
One poem that personally stood out to me was “Track 8: Grandmother Goddess” by L. Renée. My Grandma is very very dear to me and always will be and I don’t think enough light is ever shone on how extraordinary grandparents are. I’ve always said that grandmothers have something special – magical in fact – running through their veins. I will always speak about how special my grandmother is and this poem truly made me very emotional and reflective on the love that I will always have for her even if she is no longer physically with me, she will always be there in spirit. My Grandma is a goddesses and I will forever feel extremely blessed for her.
“And I’ve got the rivers of my Grandmother Goddess flowing through me”.
I can’t even begin to explain just how much this line absolutely moved me, this whole poem in fact. I would highly recommend this anthology.
Poemhood: Our Black Revival was an absolutely beautiful collection of poetry from many talented poets. Focusing on History, Folklore and the Black Experience this is an anthology that you should definitely reach for.
One poem that personally stood out to me was “Track 8: Grandmother Goddess” by L. Renée. My Grandma is very very dear to me and always will be and I don’t think enough light is ever shone on how extraordinary grandparents are. I’ve always said that grandmothers have something special – magical in fact – running through their veins. I will always speak about how special my grandmother is and this poem truly made me very emotional and reflective on the love that I will always have for her even if she is no longer physically with me, she will always be there in spirit. My Grandma is a goddesses and I will forever feel extremely blessed for her.
“And I’ve got the rivers of my Grandmother Goddess flowing through me”.
I can’t even begin to explain just how much this line absolutely moved me, this whole poem in fact. I would highly recommend this anthology.
September 22, 2024
4 stars - 57 / 100 - eBook / Annotated
TWs Discussions and depictions of racism, racial profiling and racial discrimination, use of racial slurs, racial motivated violence and murder
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Twisted...Braided...Rows of healthy black corn...Natural styles inherited from our ancestors were degraded and demolished under the heavy weight of anger and jealousy. A line forcibly forged the illusionary dichotomy between good and bad. The straighter, the better.
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Poemhood is a poetry anthology, full of history and folklore and the black experience. Gathered and afterworded by Amder McBride. I've been really enjoying poetry recently and this came highly recommended and I'm really glad I picked this one up. This is full of devastating experiences, brilliantly worded justified rage and the stark reminder that racism is a live and well.
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Or when a hip-out geometry teacher pulled me aside, felt the need to explain that saying any version of 'n*****' was wrong because her own access was denied and thatI'd probably want to kill any white person showing their privilege...I'm not an angry black woman, only exasperated.
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I've said it before and I'll say it everytime, rating and reviweing poetry is hard, poetry is a form of art that is hard to describe. It teaches you things, it makes you feel and usually afterwards you feel changed in someway. I would highly reccomend this collection, it is aimed at a YA audience so would be a good introduction poetry for those unsure of where to start.
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Voices are important.They can yell, shout, scream, cry and talk. The voices and experiences of Black people are vast...Black culture, just like water, seeps into many asepcts of society.
TWs Discussions and depictions of racism, racial profiling and racial discrimination, use of racial slurs, racial motivated violence and murder
-
Twisted...Braided...Rows of healthy black corn...Natural styles inherited from our ancestors were degraded and demolished under the heavy weight of anger and jealousy. A line forcibly forged the illusionary dichotomy between good and bad. The straighter, the better.
-
Poemhood is a poetry anthology, full of history and folklore and the black experience. Gathered and afterworded by Amder McBride. I've been really enjoying poetry recently and this came highly recommended and I'm really glad I picked this one up. This is full of devastating experiences, brilliantly worded justified rage and the stark reminder that racism is a live and well.
-
Or when a hip-out geometry teacher pulled me aside, felt the need to explain that saying any version of 'n*****' was wrong because her own access was denied and thatI'd probably want to kill any white person showing their privilege...I'm not an angry black woman, only exasperated.
-
I've said it before and I'll say it everytime, rating and reviweing poetry is hard, poetry is a form of art that is hard to describe. It teaches you things, it makes you feel and usually afterwards you feel changed in someway. I would highly reccomend this collection, it is aimed at a YA audience so would be a good introduction poetry for those unsure of where to start.
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Voices are important.They can yell, shout, scream, cry and talk. The voices and experiences of Black people are vast...Black culture, just like water, seeps into many asepcts of society.
May 12, 2024
Lucille Clifton is someone that I need to fully acquaint myself with. Thank you for reminding me of this.
July 20, 2024
It was a good poetry book. Just felt like the extra information at the end of each took away from the poems.
February 28, 2025
3 stars - I liked the explanation at the end of each poem. The poem collection as a whole feelds a bit asymmetrical but all in all, good poetry
October 29, 2024
This was a small (ish--there were 44 poems from 39 writers) yet impactful collection of poems by Black writers (primarily African American) from the last few centuries, from Phillis Wheatley to Audre Lord to Ashley Woodfolk, from Claude McKay to James Baldwin to Danez Smith. As the editors acknowledge several times both in the Introduction and in the small "outros" accompanying each poem, it would be nearly impossible to assemble a collection of poems that truly captures the breadth and depth and variety of Black experiences, it showed as much variance as it could. I especially liked that the poems were organized by loose categories to help put different writers and perspectives "in conversation" with one another, regardless of when the poems were first written. Some of my fave poems included (in order of appearance) "Power" by Audre Lorde; "won't you celebrate with me" by Lucille Clifton; "20/20" by Simone Liggins; "Hottentot Girl Summer" by Ibi Zoboi; "New Curriculum on Water" by Taylor Byas; "A Fable" by Etheridge Knight; "why the mosquito buzzes in your ear" by Danez Smith; and "Black Mythology" by Jonny Teklit.
At the end of each poem, there was an "outro" provided by the editors, which served to provide additional context to the poem, provide snippets from the poets directly on their intention(s), and/or parse meaning out of complex lines. While I liked this idea in theory--especially when a poet provided their own outro for the editors--I often found the outros counterintuitive to their intended purpose. Many of the outros felt like they were prescribing meaning(s) to the poems, and, intentionally or not, this made me read some of the poems with less... "care" doesn't feel like the right word... maybe just with less of a critical lens? Not that I wanted to critique every poem per se, but I didn't "need" to engage as critically because the outro would tell me what I was "supposed to get out of" the poem anyway, I guess, according to the editors' reading(s). There's even one outro for a poem by one of the editors that was left entirely in first-person, even though all the other outros are either in third-person or denote that the writer's words are being quoted by the editors.
At the end of each poem, there was an "outro" provided by the editors, which served to provide additional context to the poem, provide snippets from the poets directly on their intention(s), and/or parse meaning out of complex lines. While I liked this idea in theory--especially when a poet provided their own outro for the editors--I often found the outros counterintuitive to their intended purpose. Many of the outros felt like they were prescribing meaning(s) to the poems, and, intentionally or not, this made me read some of the poems with less... "care" doesn't feel like the right word... maybe just with less of a critical lens? Not that I wanted to critique every poem per se, but I didn't "need" to engage as critically because the outro would tell me what I was "supposed to get out of" the poem anyway, I guess, according to the editors' reading(s). There's even one outro for a poem by one of the editors that was left entirely in first-person, even though all the other outros are either in third-person or denote that the writer's words are being quoted by the editors.
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