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The New Book: Poems, Letters, Blurbs, and Things
Nikki Giovanni’s extraordinary new collection—a landmark of American literature—speaks to the fury of our current political moment while reflecting on the tragedies and triumphs of her early life.
For decades, Nikki Giovanni’s poetry has been at the forefront of American culture. The New Book, which is perhaps her final book, is a towering work of protest against the divisions of our time, leavened with moments of joy and reflection about her indelible legacy, her family history, and the small pleasures of her richly lived life.
In The New Book, Nikki Giovanni slashes at the ridiculousness of our cultural and political “We have no secrets/since the world shrunk/and the icebergs melted/and all the year books/are digitized./… and we press Like/or No Like/as if it mattered.”
She remembers 2020 and its cataclysmic reckoning with police brutality and white “I do understand that republicans/Are cowards and so are those nazis/Cheering/And those kkk we now call police killing/Not to mention father and sons chasing unarmed Black men/and running their cars into crowds/Pretending they are brave or something/They are not only cowards/And nazis but evil fools/And who go to bed white/Wake up American/And hate themselves for having/To share this earth/They will not overcome/And we will not love them.”
But also in the same “But what does 2020 mean to me/A chance to learn to open oysters/Talk to my friends/Catch up on my reading/Tell myself I am going to dust the house/Lie about it/...Enjoy my own company not to mention football/And remember there will be tomorrow/Because there will be/And evil will go and good will come/I am Black/We have seen much worse.”
With this collection, which includes brief letters and short prose from her life as well as poetry, Giovanni reaffirms her place as a giant of literature, a canny truth-teller, an indispensable radical orator, and one of America’s preeminent cultural critics. It is a book to be savored, and shared.
For decades, Nikki Giovanni’s poetry has been at the forefront of American culture. The New Book, which is perhaps her final book, is a towering work of protest against the divisions of our time, leavened with moments of joy and reflection about her indelible legacy, her family history, and the small pleasures of her richly lived life.
In The New Book, Nikki Giovanni slashes at the ridiculousness of our cultural and political “We have no secrets/since the world shrunk/and the icebergs melted/and all the year books/are digitized./… and we press Like/or No Like/as if it mattered.”
She remembers 2020 and its cataclysmic reckoning with police brutality and white “I do understand that republicans/Are cowards and so are those nazis/Cheering/And those kkk we now call police killing/Not to mention father and sons chasing unarmed Black men/and running their cars into crowds/Pretending they are brave or something/They are not only cowards/And nazis but evil fools/And who go to bed white/Wake up American/And hate themselves for having/To share this earth/They will not overcome/And we will not love them.”
But also in the same “But what does 2020 mean to me/A chance to learn to open oysters/Talk to my friends/Catch up on my reading/Tell myself I am going to dust the house/Lie about it/...Enjoy my own company not to mention football/And remember there will be tomorrow/Because there will be/And evil will go and good will come/I am Black/We have seen much worse.”
With this collection, which includes brief letters and short prose from her life as well as poetry, Giovanni reaffirms her place as a giant of literature, a canny truth-teller, an indispensable radical orator, and one of America’s preeminent cultural critics. It is a book to be savored, and shared.
144 pages, Hardcover
Published September 2, 2025
About the author
Nikki Giovanni
168 books1,434 followersYolande Cornelia "Nikki" Giovanni Jr. was an American poet, writer, commentator, activist, and educator. One of the world's most well-known African-American poets, her work includes poetry anthologies, poetry recordings, and nonfiction essays, and covers topics ranging from race and social issues to children's literature. She won numerous awards, including the Langston Hughes Medal and the NAACP Image Award. She was nominated for a Grammy Award for her poetry album, The Nikki Giovanni Poetry Collection. Additionally, she was named as one of Oprah Winfrey's 25 "Living Legends". Giovanni was a member of The Wintergreen Women Writers Collective.
Giovanni gained initial fame in the late 1960s as one of the foremost authors of the Black Arts Movement. Influenced by the Civil Rights Movement and Black Power Movement of the period, her early work provides a strong, militant African-American perspective, leading one writer to dub her the "Poet of the Black Revolution". During the 1970s, she began writing children's literature, and co-founded a publishing company, NikTom Ltd, to provide an outlet for other African-American women writers. Over subsequent decades, her works discussed social issues, human relationships, and hip hop. Poems such as "Knoxville, Tennessee" and "Nikki-Rosa" have been frequently re-published in anthologies and other collections.
Giovanni received numerous awards and holds 27 honorary degrees from various colleges and universities. She was also given the key to over two dozen cities. Giovanni was honored with the NAACP Image Award seven times. One of her more unique honors was having a South America bat species, Micronycteris giovanniae, named after her in 2007.
Giovanni was proud of her Appalachian roots and worked to change the way the world views Appalachians and Affrilachians.
Giovanni taught at Queens College, Rutgers, and Ohio State, and was a University Distinguished Professor at Virginia Tech until September 1, 2022. After the Virginia Tech shooting in 2007, she delivered a chant-poem at a memorial for the shooting victims.
Giovanni gained initial fame in the late 1960s as one of the foremost authors of the Black Arts Movement. Influenced by the Civil Rights Movement and Black Power Movement of the period, her early work provides a strong, militant African-American perspective, leading one writer to dub her the "Poet of the Black Revolution". During the 1970s, she began writing children's literature, and co-founded a publishing company, NikTom Ltd, to provide an outlet for other African-American women writers. Over subsequent decades, her works discussed social issues, human relationships, and hip hop. Poems such as "Knoxville, Tennessee" and "Nikki-Rosa" have been frequently re-published in anthologies and other collections.
Giovanni received numerous awards and holds 27 honorary degrees from various colleges and universities. She was also given the key to over two dozen cities. Giovanni was honored with the NAACP Image Award seven times. One of her more unique honors was having a South America bat species, Micronycteris giovanniae, named after her in 2007.
Giovanni was proud of her Appalachian roots and worked to change the way the world views Appalachians and Affrilachians.
Giovanni taught at Queens College, Rutgers, and Ohio State, and was a University Distinguished Professor at Virginia Tech until September 1, 2022. After the Virginia Tech shooting in 2007, she delivered a chant-poem at a memorial for the shooting victims.
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October 9, 2025
Charleston Gazette-Mail WV Book Team - Erin Brewster - published in Saturday/Sunday, September 27, 28 edition.
The New Book - Nikki Giovanni, William Morrow, September 2, 2025, 146 pages.
Celebrated poet and all around rabble rouser Nikki Giovanni died on December 9, 2024. She published more than thirty books, won countless awards and spent thirty-five years as University Distinguished Professor at Virginia Tech. “She was a contrarian yet utterly original, warm yet suffered no fools, wrote children’s books but could curse up a storm.” (“The New Yorker”) She was also one of my college instructors, and I was so lucky to have had the opportunity to take African American Literature with her during my time at Virginia Tech.
This is her last collection and it examines the ferocity of politics today as well as covering many people, places and things Nikki held dear. It also reflects on her early life and her family history. She is famous, not only for her poetry, but also her short prose pieces and this volume includes new examples of both.
In “Poems, Letters, Blurbs & Things” Nikki states:
I am a poet
All I really have
Are words.
She often used those words to describe the African American experience in the United States. “The Sterling Silver Mirror”:
We forget the enslaved had no way of
knowing
What they looked like except through the
eyes of those who loved them.
She ponders the death of of beloved mother in “Vines”:
Sometimes a leaf
Will yellow
And I pull it off
It is dead
And there must be
Room
For a new leaf.
In “When Water Could Not Encourage You,” a prose piece, Nikki examines the current political climate: “Ignorance is worse than illness. With illness we may rest and get well. With ignorance we are only cruel….we are living in troubled times because there are those who would like to make us fearful. We are not afraid because we have words to give us dreams which make us strong. And she also pays tribute to words in her poem ‘Fall in Love”:
If you have to fall
In love
It should be with a book.
Nikki’s legacy will live on, through her work and through the thousands of students she taught and millions she influenced throughout her 81 years:
We need poems because
They tell us we already
Have a wonderful life
Here (“A Toast to Poems”)
The New Book - Nikki Giovanni, William Morrow, September 2, 2025, 146 pages.
Celebrated poet and all around rabble rouser Nikki Giovanni died on December 9, 2024. She published more than thirty books, won countless awards and spent thirty-five years as University Distinguished Professor at Virginia Tech. “She was a contrarian yet utterly original, warm yet suffered no fools, wrote children’s books but could curse up a storm.” (“The New Yorker”) She was also one of my college instructors, and I was so lucky to have had the opportunity to take African American Literature with her during my time at Virginia Tech.
This is her last collection and it examines the ferocity of politics today as well as covering many people, places and things Nikki held dear. It also reflects on her early life and her family history. She is famous, not only for her poetry, but also her short prose pieces and this volume includes new examples of both.
In “Poems, Letters, Blurbs & Things” Nikki states:
I am a poet
All I really have
Are words.
She often used those words to describe the African American experience in the United States. “The Sterling Silver Mirror”:
We forget the enslaved had no way of
knowing
What they looked like except through the
eyes of those who loved them.
She ponders the death of of beloved mother in “Vines”:
Sometimes a leaf
Will yellow
And I pull it off
It is dead
And there must be
Room
For a new leaf.
In “When Water Could Not Encourage You,” a prose piece, Nikki examines the current political climate: “Ignorance is worse than illness. With illness we may rest and get well. With ignorance we are only cruel….we are living in troubled times because there are those who would like to make us fearful. We are not afraid because we have words to give us dreams which make us strong. And she also pays tribute to words in her poem ‘Fall in Love”:
If you have to fall
In love
It should be with a book.
Nikki’s legacy will live on, through her work and through the thousands of students she taught and millions she influenced throughout her 81 years:
We need poems because
They tell us we already
Have a wonderful life
Here (“A Toast to Poems”)
October 10, 2025
Nikki Giovanni's last book, released less than a year after her passing, was excellent and bittersweet to read. My favorite pieces are:
-Why I'm Thankful
-Fear
-Vote
-Raise Your Hand
-March on Washington 10th Anniversary
-Vote 2024
-The Three Riders
-An Angel Like Ashley
-A Toast to Poems
-Poems
-Why I'm Thankful
-Fear
-Vote
-Raise Your Hand
-March on Washington 10th Anniversary
-Vote 2024
-The Three Riders
-An Angel Like Ashley
-A Toast to Poems
-Poems
August 4, 2025
Everything she touches is pure gold! And in this brief “new” book, she is mining pure gold. She knew the end was in sight and she had zero f**ks to give. Some of that unvarnished truth makes it the page. However, mostly I felt an appreciation for a life well lived and the responsibility of all who identify as human. She says that one is not gone as long as one is not forgotten, so in that sense, Ms. Nikki Giovanni will never be gone and for that we should all be truly grateful! Thanks to that most wonderful bookstore in Houston, TX, Kindred Stories for allowing me to roam the galley shelf and grab what suits me.
July 11, 2025
With icon Nikki Giovanni having died last December, we all know what the title of The New Book is a euphemism for. I have loved Giovanni since at least graduate school in the mid-1980s and maybe before. I loved this book, as well, although the experience was, understandably, bittersweet. I loved “Won’t You Be My Neighbor?”, a caustic riposte to bigotry; “Raise Your Hand (In Favor of Immigrants),” “A Recipe for the New York Times (Sent to Elizabeth A. Harris),” “Fisk A Song of Freedom” and so many, many more.
Nothing I could ever write would come close to the beauty of Giovanni’s words, so I will close with two quotations:
Amen and amen. I cannot recommend this book enough.
In the interest of full disclosure, I received this book from NetGalley and William Morrow in exchange for an honest review.
Nothing I could ever write would come close to the beauty of Giovanni’s words, so I will close with two quotations:
From “Some Christmas Questions and One Answer”:
It is time to move on to the twenty-first century. Who needs to be brave enough to go forward and save our Democracy? We are. Maybe. Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.
From “Not Encourage You”:
As a poet all I have are words. I think words are the most powerful weapons on Earth because words battle ignorance.
Amen and amen. I cannot recommend this book enough.
In the interest of full disclosure, I received this book from NetGalley and William Morrow in exchange for an honest review.
September 26, 2025
The New Book: Poems, Letters, Blurbs, and Things, this compilation of Nikki Giovanni's final works is a treat. We see her vast humor and wisdom. In a letter to the NYT, she addresses the cost to place an ad. So proud that Jericho Brown won the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry, her and two other poets wanted to congratulate him with a page of celebration in the paper. But the cost was prohibited for poets. She writes, "I remember someone who will be unnamed, had a page in the Times calling for the execution of five innocent youngsters. I suppose that is business but isn't a part of our business to life up the community. The Times means a lot to the newspaper world. It would mean a lot for us to congratulate Jericho. I can proudly share I have a good supply of both toilet paper and paper towels that I would gladly give to you since we are only talking about paper. Money is just paper, too, but I have less of green and more of white." She points this out with humor and the serious implication that if he had been in some way arrested he would be featured, like so many other black men. Go Nikki!
So much common sense, good poems about voting, stories from her childhood, and some short stories. She always expressed herself fully, from childhood on, and this book brings her words and brilliance to us at a time it is needed. She reminds us of facts about fascism, in the poem, "Won't You Be My Neighbor?" this verse stands out and is useful to consider as we face this today.
"We drive down the hill and wait for the traffic to make room to
embrace us . . . I hope we turn right even though we will pass our
neighbor who flies the confederate flag . . . you would think the
fascist would learn by now . . . They Will Never Win . . . they
lost the Civil War . . . WWI . . . WWII . . . and all the others no
matter how vicious fascists are . . . one day I will picket him . . .
with a banner that says LOSER . . . just in case . . . he and they
forgot they . . . LOST"
And in the poem, "Some Christmas Questions and One Answer"
"Who needs to understand Billionaire is the most unnecessary
thing on Earth. You do."
It is a balm to read her words, absorb her wit and brilliance. I am grateful she gave us so much in her lifetime and for this final book that is so important.
So much common sense, good poems about voting, stories from her childhood, and some short stories. She always expressed herself fully, from childhood on, and this book brings her words and brilliance to us at a time it is needed. She reminds us of facts about fascism, in the poem, "Won't You Be My Neighbor?" this verse stands out and is useful to consider as we face this today.
"We drive down the hill and wait for the traffic to make room to
embrace us . . . I hope we turn right even though we will pass our
neighbor who flies the confederate flag . . . you would think the
fascist would learn by now . . . They Will Never Win . . . they
lost the Civil War . . . WWI . . . WWII . . . and all the others no
matter how vicious fascists are . . . one day I will picket him . . .
with a banner that says LOSER . . . just in case . . . he and they
forgot they . . . LOST"
And in the poem, "Some Christmas Questions and One Answer"
"Who needs to understand Billionaire is the most unnecessary
thing on Earth. You do."
It is a balm to read her words, absorb her wit and brilliance. I am grateful she gave us so much in her lifetime and for this final book that is so important.
May 6, 2025
I am a poet
All I really have
Are words
The New Book is Nikki Giovanni’s extraordinary final collection of poems, letters, blurbs, and things. They say you become less filtered, less patient, and more honest as you age, and I can tell from this collection that Auntie Nikki was fed up. She held no punches about her feelings toward Trump, “Find the courage/To help rid us all/
Of the festering mold in the White House” (Vote 2024, It Matters). She emphasized the importance of voting, specifically calling out young people and Black men, “At sometime/There has to be Black/Men who step up recognizing/They are needed…Vote for Harris/We need you brother/Vote for the love we gave you last night”.
I love the way she honored Toni Morrison, her friend Ashley Bryan, and her grandparents. In The Coal Cellar, she wrote about her precious inheritance, “Maybe not a big bank account or trust fund/ And certainly not any property but I inherited/ A morning and a great deal of knowledge/In a cold coal cellar/With my grandmother”. I enjoyed reading about the things that brought her joy, her love for poetry, her family history, and the small pleasures of her richly lived life. Thank you to NetGalley and William Morrow Books.
All I really have
Are words
The New Book is Nikki Giovanni’s extraordinary final collection of poems, letters, blurbs, and things. They say you become less filtered, less patient, and more honest as you age, and I can tell from this collection that Auntie Nikki was fed up. She held no punches about her feelings toward Trump, “Find the courage/To help rid us all/
Of the festering mold in the White House” (Vote 2024, It Matters). She emphasized the importance of voting, specifically calling out young people and Black men, “At sometime/There has to be Black/Men who step up recognizing/They are needed…Vote for Harris/We need you brother/Vote for the love we gave you last night”.
I love the way she honored Toni Morrison, her friend Ashley Bryan, and her grandparents. In The Coal Cellar, she wrote about her precious inheritance, “Maybe not a big bank account or trust fund/ And certainly not any property but I inherited/ A morning and a great deal of knowledge/In a cold coal cellar/With my grandmother”. I enjoyed reading about the things that brought her joy, her love for poetry, her family history, and the small pleasures of her richly lived life. Thank you to NetGalley and William Morrow Books.
Read
December 23, 2025The New Book: Poems, Letters, Blurbs, and Things is Nikki Giovanni’s final collection, and it is just a delight. Her unapologetically energetic poems, prose, and forms that land somewhere else capture the voice of her later years–warm, funny, sentimental, direct, and perfectly capable of delivering stings to those who deserve it.
Giovanni includes several observations on the nature of poetry–”Poetry is a good idea”–and a fair amount of food writing, including the advice to add a little nutmeg when slowly frying chicken in butter. She also celebrates cheap champagne and laments her inability to duplicate her grandma’s biscuits.
As the parent of a Class of 2020 member, I was touched by Giovanni’s admonition that schools should engrave on a monument the names of those whose graduation ceremonies were wiped out by the pandemic.
I was blessed to spend time in conversation with Nikki Giovanni, and The New Book brought back her one-of-a-kind voice and laughter through these pages. I hope others will seek out The New Book and enjoy lingering a while with one of America’s most memorable poets.
Giovanni includes several observations on the nature of poetry–”Poetry is a good idea”–and a fair amount of food writing, including the advice to add a little nutmeg when slowly frying chicken in butter. She also celebrates cheap champagne and laments her inability to duplicate her grandma’s biscuits.
As the parent of a Class of 2020 member, I was touched by Giovanni’s admonition that schools should engrave on a monument the names of those whose graduation ceremonies were wiped out by the pandemic.
I was blessed to spend time in conversation with Nikki Giovanni, and The New Book brought back her one-of-a-kind voice and laughter through these pages. I hope others will seek out The New Book and enjoy lingering a while with one of America’s most memorable poets.
October 18, 2025
A posthumous collection of poems and snippet writings, some of these pieces are really good and spark reflection, but many seem like touches Giovanni put down while passing the time. What the sketches compiled in The New Book amount to are a sort of soft coda with strong reminders of her best work making flashes for a moment amid a cozy and easy-to-read hodgepodge of musings.
January 2, 2026
My first book of 2026!
This is such a beautiful collection of the last of Giovanni’s poems, letters, and words. Her voice and fire are so beautiful and passionate. And she would have had so much to say about 2025…
“Some in the family say
The mirror was stolen
But how can you steal when you were.” - p. 17
Giovanni is wholly unafraid to speak her truths—writing everything from eulogies to silly short holiday stories to race pieces to recipes to love. This is my first Giovanni book, but it certainly will not be my last.
“… it’s not fear that causes problems, it’s when hatred is combined with it.” - p. 9
I rate this book 4 out of 5 stars, for readers 13+. I recommend this for anyone looking to read the beautiful greats of poetry.
Content Warnings: language (only a few times, and used very tastefully)
This is such a beautiful collection of the last of Giovanni’s poems, letters, and words. Her voice and fire are so beautiful and passionate. And she would have had so much to say about 2025…
“Some in the family say
The mirror was stolen
But how can you steal when you were.” - p. 17
Giovanni is wholly unafraid to speak her truths—writing everything from eulogies to silly short holiday stories to race pieces to recipes to love. This is my first Giovanni book, but it certainly will not be my last.
“… it’s not fear that causes problems, it’s when hatred is combined with it.” - p. 9
I rate this book 4 out of 5 stars, for readers 13+. I recommend this for anyone looking to read the beautiful greats of poetry.
Content Warnings: language (only a few times, and used very tastefully)
February 6, 2026
Nikki Giovanni writes like she knows the world I live in. Her poems, letters, and blurbs hit hard and real, full of honesty, pride, and truth. She moves between love, pain, and life’s struggles with a clarity that stays with you. Reading this book felt like sitting across from someone who has fought, loved, and survived, and now speaks to me directly.
As a Black man, her words hit different. She celebrates our strength, calls out the world’s injustices, and reminds me that joy and resilience are not just choices, they are survival. Giovanni doesn’t soften her truths, and I respect that. This collection makes you think, feel, and stand taller in your own skin.
The New Book is more than poetry. It is a mirror, a guide, and a challenge to live boldly, love fully, and never apologize for being who you are.
As a Black man, her words hit different. She celebrates our strength, calls out the world’s injustices, and reminds me that joy and resilience are not just choices, they are survival. Giovanni doesn’t soften her truths, and I respect that. This collection makes you think, feel, and stand taller in your own skin.
The New Book is more than poetry. It is a mirror, a guide, and a challenge to live boldly, love fully, and never apologize for being who you are.
January 23, 2026
The writing is wonderful and the audio version was beautifully read by so many talented people. 🩷
*I revisited the audio a few days later to write down my favorite quotes, and now I love this collection all the more. ‘Vote 2020’ and ‘Vote 2024’ would be an interesting analysis in a high school History or English class; ‘Tony Morrison’ made me want to read more of her work; ‘Serena’ and ‘Winter Homes’ and ‘All I Really Have’ I listened to several times over, just appreciating the diction, the flow, and the beautiful lines written out. The stories they tell and the emotions they evoke are so easily accessible in her work. I am so excited to have found a new poet to love, and so sad to have discovered her after her passing. I simply love this collection.
*I revisited the audio a few days later to write down my favorite quotes, and now I love this collection all the more. ‘Vote 2020’ and ‘Vote 2024’ would be an interesting analysis in a high school History or English class; ‘Tony Morrison’ made me want to read more of her work; ‘Serena’ and ‘Winter Homes’ and ‘All I Really Have’ I listened to several times over, just appreciating the diction, the flow, and the beautiful lines written out. The stories they tell and the emotions they evoke are so easily accessible in her work. I am so excited to have found a new poet to love, and so sad to have discovered her after her passing. I simply love this collection.
September 6, 2025
I listened to this book and it was so good!! It is narrated by many authors including Nancy Johnson and Kwame Alexander. It is a collection of poems and stories. Some of my favorites were Vines, Serena, Floating, The Three Writers, and Fisk..A Song of Freedom. Lots to learn from this book!!!
September 17, 2025
The poetic has spoken! Her legacy and words will live forever and this treasure piece is one of them!
May 27, 2025
❤️❤️ Rip
October 24, 2025
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️What a wonderfully inspiring book of poetry! I loved how Nikki Giovanni name dropped all through this book, deservedly so. The essay to the graduates of 2020, it moved me. Her words were deep and reminisce of my mother, grandmother and the old aunties. One of the best part of this book was the story of Santa Claus, the Easter Bunny and Mrs. Claus (The Three Riders).
In fact, I read this as an e-book, now I am going to get a hardcover copy. Thank you NetGalley for the opportunity to experience this jewel.
A Praise Song for Roots by Alex Haley…All I’m saying is that everything has Roots. Our only question is do we pull them up like weeds to be destroyed or do we nurture them to allow them to blossom.
The Three Riders…And all three riders slept on happy dreams of a good job.
When Water Could Not Encourage You…Congratulations to all of you who entered this essay competition. Special best wishes to those whose work was chosen to win but a sweet hug and a big hand clap to those who competed. Life is always about doing our best which sometimes is better than others and sometimes simply our best. There is pride each time we walk out onto the court.
As a poet, all I have are words. I think words are the most powerful weapons on earth because words battle ignorance. Ignorance is worse than illness. With illness, we may rest and get well, with ignorance we are only cruel. I should also add that with illness, we get to stay in bed, eat hot soup and read books. Books are our best friends.
We are living in troubled times because there are those who would like to make us fearful. We are not afraid because we have words to give us dreams which make us strong.
I am so proud of all of you. You learned to walk through though you tumbled a lot. You learned to swim, though the water could not encourage you; you learned to have the training wheels taken off your bike so that you could ride on your own dreams. Keep riding.
Understand you will learn to fly. You will find the words that give you a beautiful song. Sing it. No one else has to hear it. It is yours. Sing on.
For the 2023 Graduates of Roanoke College…
Congratulations!
No matter what our dreams or situations
Words are the most important evolution of human beings, we speak, sing, write, pray in words.
We understand our pets and parents through words.
Words paint our dreams; words embrace our emotions.
We use words to make a better world.
We create words to prepare ourselves for a new world.
We gaze at stars to understand our galaxy.
We look in the mirror to understand ourselves, our eyes mirror, the love we have for each other. Our words deliver the words showing respect for others. Life is a good idea.
We find words, write essays, allow our vulnerabilities to flow. We do our best life with our living words
We go forward because words do not go back.
We build a pyramid of words with our memories and sit in the sun and be proud.
Answers… What was it like growing up Black? The Black American experience in all America has been a beacon. We made American food unique and special; we made patches of cloth into quilts; we remind all of us of the importance of integrity and probability, to me, we are a forgiving group. We were taught that in church by our grandmothers. What would the American not only regional situation be without us?
Introducing Knoxville (For Bill Walsh and Reinhardt University)… and there is a sort of memory of it, but I’m not sure that I remember or just heard about it.
I said I was happy because I recognized happiness is a decision.
A Blues for Mother… happy birthday to all who are born and tears for those who leave
Altars… She was a very pretty woman which helps smooth her road.
We need to understand freedom isn’t free. Each generation pays a price.
Graduation Poem… who one day will bring their grandchildren to show “See I was a different soldier in a different war.”
A Dedication…
It actually takes four people
To write a book:
The writer who writes it
The critic who talks about it,
The librarian, who stocks it
The teacher who teaches it
I thank the first one who has the courage
And I acknowledge the other three for
their part
in watering the seed
And helping it grow
Fall in love (For Artemis)…
If you have to fall in love
And you
It should be with a book
Not a novel
Nor a mystery
Certainly nothing scary
And always remember other life forms
Aren’t aliens but other lifeforms
Just as we are earthlings
Not people to be feared and killed
But lifeforms inhabiting the same planet
Maybe ideally a recipe anthology
With great idea ideas of things to do with garlic
Or especially a mixology book to tell us how to relax
If we are careful
We all need to know how to taste beer
And had a judge wine
(the same way we do people —carefully)
and we definitely need a book that lets us
Laugh
And every now and then one
That lets us cry
We need a book and a dog
And a quilt
To tuck into
And love
That will be faithful
And true
That’s what love is:
A good book
An Angel Like Ashley…
Sometimes you’re cold
Or sad
Or lonely
And you need something
Or someone to comfort
You
And you turn
To a poem
Because an angel
Comes to rub your back
How does a poem
Sound
Like an angel
Blowing a saxophone
Or a vibraharp
Or most likely like Ashley Bryan
Reading to us
From Heaven
Betty Wills Jacoby Skinner, 7 April 1925 - 31 July 2020… There is the thought that death is the end, but there can never be an end where love has been sown. The seeds of love have been carried by the birds and the wind and the rain to settle in the embrace of soil. Some seeds grow in some will turn and turn until they become stones of value to those who find them. Some are diamonds and some are rocks but all keep returning to the love that was put next to them as they began their rest. We are birthed with our mothers but we only have the comfort loneliness brings as she transitions.
Ten Descriptions of Me (for Mark Koplick)…I think life is interesting so I think we should enjoy living it. I guess the most important part is not learning to give love but learning to accept love.
Propose to People…Libraries are the university of the people.
Nothing was more important than the bookstores except perhaps the churches.
In fact, I read this as an e-book, now I am going to get a hardcover copy. Thank you NetGalley for the opportunity to experience this jewel.
A Praise Song for Roots by Alex Haley…All I’m saying is that everything has Roots. Our only question is do we pull them up like weeds to be destroyed or do we nurture them to allow them to blossom.
The Three Riders…And all three riders slept on happy dreams of a good job.
When Water Could Not Encourage You…Congratulations to all of you who entered this essay competition. Special best wishes to those whose work was chosen to win but a sweet hug and a big hand clap to those who competed. Life is always about doing our best which sometimes is better than others and sometimes simply our best. There is pride each time we walk out onto the court.
As a poet, all I have are words. I think words are the most powerful weapons on earth because words battle ignorance. Ignorance is worse than illness. With illness, we may rest and get well, with ignorance we are only cruel. I should also add that with illness, we get to stay in bed, eat hot soup and read books. Books are our best friends.
We are living in troubled times because there are those who would like to make us fearful. We are not afraid because we have words to give us dreams which make us strong.
I am so proud of all of you. You learned to walk through though you tumbled a lot. You learned to swim, though the water could not encourage you; you learned to have the training wheels taken off your bike so that you could ride on your own dreams. Keep riding.
Understand you will learn to fly. You will find the words that give you a beautiful song. Sing it. No one else has to hear it. It is yours. Sing on.
For the 2023 Graduates of Roanoke College…
Congratulations!
No matter what our dreams or situations
Words are the most important evolution of human beings, we speak, sing, write, pray in words.
We understand our pets and parents through words.
Words paint our dreams; words embrace our emotions.
We use words to make a better world.
We create words to prepare ourselves for a new world.
We gaze at stars to understand our galaxy.
We look in the mirror to understand ourselves, our eyes mirror, the love we have for each other. Our words deliver the words showing respect for others. Life is a good idea.
We find words, write essays, allow our vulnerabilities to flow. We do our best life with our living words
We go forward because words do not go back.
We build a pyramid of words with our memories and sit in the sun and be proud.
Answers… What was it like growing up Black? The Black American experience in all America has been a beacon. We made American food unique and special; we made patches of cloth into quilts; we remind all of us of the importance of integrity and probability, to me, we are a forgiving group. We were taught that in church by our grandmothers. What would the American not only regional situation be without us?
Introducing Knoxville (For Bill Walsh and Reinhardt University)… and there is a sort of memory of it, but I’m not sure that I remember or just heard about it.
I said I was happy because I recognized happiness is a decision.
A Blues for Mother… happy birthday to all who are born and tears for those who leave
Altars… She was a very pretty woman which helps smooth her road.
We need to understand freedom isn’t free. Each generation pays a price.
Graduation Poem… who one day will bring their grandchildren to show “See I was a different soldier in a different war.”
A Dedication…
It actually takes four people
To write a book:
The writer who writes it
The critic who talks about it,
The librarian, who stocks it
The teacher who teaches it
I thank the first one who has the courage
And I acknowledge the other three for
their part
in watering the seed
And helping it grow
Fall in love (For Artemis)…
If you have to fall in love
And you
It should be with a book
Not a novel
Nor a mystery
Certainly nothing scary
And always remember other life forms
Aren’t aliens but other lifeforms
Just as we are earthlings
Not people to be feared and killed
But lifeforms inhabiting the same planet
Maybe ideally a recipe anthology
With great idea ideas of things to do with garlic
Or especially a mixology book to tell us how to relax
If we are careful
We all need to know how to taste beer
And had a judge wine
(the same way we do people —carefully)
and we definitely need a book that lets us
Laugh
And every now and then one
That lets us cry
We need a book and a dog
And a quilt
To tuck into
And love
That will be faithful
And true
That’s what love is:
A good book
An Angel Like Ashley…
Sometimes you’re cold
Or sad
Or lonely
And you need something
Or someone to comfort
You
And you turn
To a poem
Because an angel
Comes to rub your back
How does a poem
Sound
Like an angel
Blowing a saxophone
Or a vibraharp
Or most likely like Ashley Bryan
Reading to us
From Heaven
Betty Wills Jacoby Skinner, 7 April 1925 - 31 July 2020… There is the thought that death is the end, but there can never be an end where love has been sown. The seeds of love have been carried by the birds and the wind and the rain to settle in the embrace of soil. Some seeds grow in some will turn and turn until they become stones of value to those who find them. Some are diamonds and some are rocks but all keep returning to the love that was put next to them as they began their rest. We are birthed with our mothers but we only have the comfort loneliness brings as she transitions.
Ten Descriptions of Me (for Mark Koplick)…I think life is interesting so I think we should enjoy living it. I guess the most important part is not learning to give love but learning to accept love.
Propose to People…Libraries are the university of the people.
Nothing was more important than the bookstores except perhaps the churches.
May 29, 2025
This was an incredible read! I enjoyed reading the poems, letters, and stories in this collection. It was interesting about her life and experiences. I plan to read more of her work.
*Thank you, NetGalley, for providing an arc in exchange for an honest review.*
*Thank you, NetGalley, for providing an arc in exchange for an honest review.*
March 27, 2026
Nikki Giovanni is a perennial favorite in my English classroom--no poetry unit is complete (in my opinion) without at least one piece of hers. This collection of texts from Giovanni reminded me of why I love her: her wit, her immediacy, her love of small things. It is an anthology that is very much a reflection of now. My favorite parts of the book was learning more about the relationships she had with other authors--Gwendolyn Brooks, Toni Morrison, Alex Haley--and specifically her NYT letter about Jericho Brown. The poetry is a standout (unsurprisingly), but the blurbs and baubles weren't as interesting for this reader. I'll continue to consume all things Giovanni, and look forward to learning more about her life and writing.
June 6, 2026
Actual rating: 3.75 stars
But, with this collection, I found fewer “hits” and more “huh” moments. At times, it felt like someone had taken notes off her desk and bundled them together in one final publication, with no rhyme, reason, or editing. I wonder if the author even wanted these shared. Were they drafts? Scribbles of “ideas for development”? Random thoughts that may evolve into a more complete poem? Yes, there were many pieces that felt finished. But there were more that felt like drafts. Giovanni’s words are treasures and, I’m sure, this collection will have its place in her bibliography. For me, it was not a “keeper” and I found myself glad I had borrowed it rather than purchased it.
"As a poet all I have are words. I think words are the most powerful weapons on Earth because words battle ignorance. Ignorance is worse than illness. With illness we may rest and get well, with ignorance we are only cruel." -- Nikki Giovanni, When Water Could Not Encourage YouIn 2024, we lost a great poet when Nikki Giovanni joined the angels. I was thrilled to see The New Book on my library’s shelf with the newest acquisitions. As with most of Giovanni’s books, I flagged lines that made me ponder, gasp, double-take, or that lifted my heart.
But, with this collection, I found fewer “hits” and more “huh” moments. At times, it felt like someone had taken notes off her desk and bundled them together in one final publication, with no rhyme, reason, or editing. I wonder if the author even wanted these shared. Were they drafts? Scribbles of “ideas for development”? Random thoughts that may evolve into a more complete poem? Yes, there were many pieces that felt finished. But there were more that felt like drafts. Giovanni’s words are treasures and, I’m sure, this collection will have its place in her bibliography. For me, it was not a “keeper” and I found myself glad I had borrowed it rather than purchased it.
August 7, 2025
This is a collection of some of Nikki Giovanni’s last writings before her death. She remarks on the current political climate, reflects on her past, and drops words of wisdom. It is not strictly a poetry collection. It also contains letters in which she endearingly signs “Poetically Nikki”. There are blurbs and dedications as well as addresses to universities. So much wisdom is packed into this collection.
One of the collection pieces that stuck out to me was a poem about Serena Williams. The poem reflects on the love a listening younger sister has for an older sister. Being an older sister, this poem really touched me. There is also a love poem entitled, Floating that reminded me of her Bicycle collection and Kidnap poem. Many of the poems will feel familiar to those who have read Giovanni’s works over the years.
One surprise for me in the collection was a fairy tale, The Three Riders. Giovanni imagines the Easter Bunny, Mrs. Claus and Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer delivering Easter eggs. The imagery in the story made me smile.
This is a collection I will return to over and over again.
I requested and was sent an advanced copy of this book from the publisher, William Morrow.
Publication Date: September 02, 2025
One of the collection pieces that stuck out to me was a poem about Serena Williams. The poem reflects on the love a listening younger sister has for an older sister. Being an older sister, this poem really touched me. There is also a love poem entitled, Floating that reminded me of her Bicycle collection and Kidnap poem. Many of the poems will feel familiar to those who have read Giovanni’s works over the years.
One surprise for me in the collection was a fairy tale, The Three Riders. Giovanni imagines the Easter Bunny, Mrs. Claus and Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer delivering Easter eggs. The imagery in the story made me smile.
This is a collection I will return to over and over again.
I requested and was sent an advanced copy of this book from the publisher, William Morrow.
Publication Date: September 02, 2025
February 28, 2026
This collection of odds and ends—poems, letters, commencement speeches, keynote addresses, eulogies, blurbs, and “things”—seems to tarnish Giovanni’s sterling literary legacy by recycling a lot of previously published material and promoting it as “the new book.” Some pieces, such as the stale speeches, seem relevant only for the occasion, as do the outdated letters. Perhaps an editor could have provided some assistance with this compilation by encouraging Giovanni to recast the prose pieces into fresh poems crafted for the book, which would sadly be her last. Simply partitioning the poetry and prose into separate sections might have added more coherence and organization to the collection as well. All that said, reading Giovanni’s plain-spoken poetry is still a pleasure.
Favorite Poems, Etc.:
“The Nature Conservancy” (letter)
“A Keynote Address [Poetry is a trestle]”
“A Toast to Poems” (poem)
“Fisk” (essay)
Favorite Poems, Etc.:
“The Nature Conservancy” (letter)
“A Keynote Address [Poetry is a trestle]”
“A Toast to Poems” (poem)
“Fisk” (essay)
October 28, 2025
Raise Your Hand (in favor of immigrants)
how many of you sitting
here
think some woman of color
Black Brown Yellow White
woke up this morning thinking
‘Goooolly … I can go to the airport
and clean toilets?
Raise your right hand
how many of you sitting here
woke up this morning thinking
‘How lucky can they be
Oh Lordy I wish i could
do that’
Raise your left hand
how many of us sitting
here gave one dollar
to those women knowing
they are underpaid
and not appreciated
at all
Raise either hand
did you know if we all
gave one dollar
every time we urinated
those woman might
take 100 dollars home
to feed their mother
their children
their uncle who moved in with them
their husband who will beat them
Raise any hand
how many of you
when you see those women
say ‘thank God
it’s not me’
Raise both your motherfucking hands
and Clap
how many of you sitting
here
think some woman of color
Black Brown Yellow White
woke up this morning thinking
‘Goooolly … I can go to the airport
and clean toilets?
Raise your right hand
how many of you sitting here
woke up this morning thinking
‘How lucky can they be
Oh Lordy I wish i could
do that’
Raise your left hand
how many of us sitting
here gave one dollar
to those women knowing
they are underpaid
and not appreciated
at all
Raise either hand
did you know if we all
gave one dollar
every time we urinated
those woman might
take 100 dollars home
to feed their mother
their children
their uncle who moved in with them
their husband who will beat them
Raise any hand
how many of you
when you see those women
say ‘thank God
it’s not me’
Raise both your motherfucking hands
and Clap
November 24, 2025
This book was published in September as a collection of “poems, letters, blurbs and things” that she had written before she passed last year. It was delightful to read because it takes you through personal history, extracts of letters that should’ve been mundane, but were sprinkled with wit and insight. While she’s known for her activist poetry in the 1960s and 1970s, it’s assuring to see her write about the current political situations and drop in her own opinions through “Vote (2020)” and “Vote 2024.” I enjoyed this poem for all the images and emotions that resonated with me as a poet.
I have a longer review with snapshots of the poems I enjoyed
on my Substack post
I have a longer review with snapshots of the poems I enjoyed
on my Substack post
Read
November 12, 2025What a treat for so many of Nikki Giovanni's writings across her lifetime to be self-selected and compiled here for readers. Offering various works across genres, the writer "only has words" in this life. Reading them piece after piece created an unargument, showing me how words can be enough as much as I think they are not. I enjoyed the story of Giovanni meeting the Queen of England in "Fisk: A Song of Freedom" and the poems "A Blues For Mother," "The Longest Way Round" and "Fathers (For twg)." These works show the experience through a story that find ground in the past but continuously ring with such presence. One fact I learned was that she was the first person in her family to be born in a hospital in Knoxville, TN.
February 1, 2026
The thing about Giovanni, and poetry in general, is that it is bite-sized and meant to be savored and appreciated and walked away from and then one returns to it.
The thing you have to understand about me is that I still eat an entire box of chocolate in one sitting if I can.
Having said that, "Vines" is perfect.
My mother died
13 or 14 years
Ago
I took the flowers
Home
And put most in
Water
The gift of life
They sit by the window
In the sunnyside
Of my bedroom
And the roots
Have taken hold
Sometimes a leaf
Will yellow
And I pull it off
It is dead
And there must be
Room
For a new leaf
Things that are dead
Cannot be saved
My mother will always
Live in my heart
All nazis must be
Picked
And thrown away
The thing you have to understand about me is that I still eat an entire box of chocolate in one sitting if I can.
Having said that, "Vines" is perfect.
My mother died
13 or 14 years
Ago
I took the flowers
Home
And put most in
Water
The gift of life
They sit by the window
In the sunnyside
Of my bedroom
And the roots
Have taken hold
Sometimes a leaf
Will yellow
And I pull it off
It is dead
And there must be
Room
For a new leaf
Things that are dead
Cannot be saved
My mother will always
Live in my heart
All nazis must be
Picked
And thrown away
March 9, 2026
Nikki Giovanni has been one of my favorite poets since I was a middle school student in Jersey. When I realized, later in life in North Carolina, that she was only as far away as Virginia Tech, I had hopes of meeting her. It would have been wonderful to tell her what her words meant to me as I was growing up. Although that didn't happen, this book is another way to get to know her. Not only does it include her poetry, it also includes essays, letters to editors, and other musings. Her characteristic optimism is there as well as her cut-you-at-your-knees wisdom that does not suffer fools.
I wish she were still with us. We need her now. But at least we have her words, her very important, honest and direct words.
Read this book.
I wish she were still with us. We need her now. But at least we have her words, her very important, honest and direct words.
Read this book.
September 28, 2025
Just look at her beautiful shining face on the cover.
What will we do without her?
I loved the very first poem "All I Really Have" and "Some Christmas Questions and One Answer."
She talks about how important voting is, how the nazis will never win, how books are your best friend, how she never learned to make biscuits, love & death.
"Hatred is a bad idea.
Which is why it's cheap and available
anywhere you look."
"I knew when I'd dialed he was gone
And all that I knew of love
would also be buried."
"And remember there will be tomorrow
because there will be.
And evil will go and good will come
I am black
we have seen so much worse."
What will we do without her?
I loved the very first poem "All I Really Have" and "Some Christmas Questions and One Answer."
She talks about how important voting is, how the nazis will never win, how books are your best friend, how she never learned to make biscuits, love & death.
"Hatred is a bad idea.
Which is why it's cheap and available
anywhere you look."
"I knew when I'd dialed he was gone
And all that I knew of love
would also be buried."
"And remember there will be tomorrow
because there will be.
And evil will go and good will come
I am black
we have seen so much worse."
February 28, 2026
Courtney says:
Nikki Giovanni's poems in this collection "The New Book" can be summed up into 5 categories: Nature, Space and Beyond, the Black Experience, Family, and Cooking. Giovanni is able to her perspective all these years living in understandable words and tones. Poems like 'Fear', 'Raise Your Hand', 'A Praise Song for Roots by Alex Haley', 'A Toast to Poems', 'Cotton in the Arms of the Mountains', and 'The Sterling Silver Mirror' deeply connected me to her style of writing. She uses the mundane to tell a message deeper than meets the eye. Giovanni showed who she is unapologetically not reserving any likes or dislikes she's had which is refreshing and heavily appreciated.
Nikki Giovanni's poems in this collection "The New Book" can be summed up into 5 categories: Nature, Space and Beyond, the Black Experience, Family, and Cooking. Giovanni is able to her perspective all these years living in understandable words and tones. Poems like 'Fear', 'Raise Your Hand', 'A Praise Song for Roots by Alex Haley', 'A Toast to Poems', 'Cotton in the Arms of the Mountains', and 'The Sterling Silver Mirror' deeply connected me to her style of writing. She uses the mundane to tell a message deeper than meets the eye. Giovanni showed who she is unapologetically not reserving any likes or dislikes she's had which is refreshing and heavily appreciated.
September 5, 2025
I recieved this book through a giveaway and the day it arrived, I immediately started reading and finished same day. Honestly, I am just truly honored to have one of Nikki's books, especially as she has now passed as of 2024. Her poetry has always been some of my favorites. This was well worth the read and no doubt I will read again. A few times.
That said, Rest Peacefully Nikki. You've touched mine and millions of others hearts through your words. Thank you for that. If you get a chance, say hello to my Mama for me. 🙏
That said, Rest Peacefully Nikki. You've touched mine and millions of others hearts through your words. Thank you for that. If you get a chance, say hello to my Mama for me. 🙏
June 30, 2026
I won this book from the Giveaways, and was so glad because I wanted to start reading poetry. Such a slim, little book to start with, but oh so full of beauty and heart.
I particularly liked “Won’t You Be My Neighbor.” To me it was all about co-existing with nature and making space for it.
“The Coal Cellar” made me think of how different my life has been—and ancestors lives have been—compared to those of my African American friends, neighbors and co-workers.
Will keep this I corrected proof to reread from time to time.
I particularly liked “Won’t You Be My Neighbor.” To me it was all about co-existing with nature and making space for it.
“The Coal Cellar” made me think of how different my life has been—and ancestors lives have been—compared to those of my African American friends, neighbors and co-workers.
Will keep this I corrected proof to reread from time to time.
February 6, 2026
A final most precious collection of poetry and prose, published after she died, but words that need to be shared. Words. Her craft, her gift to all of us forever, acknowledging the past, finding hope in the future, and a fierce hatred of our current administration, while loving the poets and poems and words shared. I loved hercstory about meeting the Queen of England and their shared connection with the Fisk University Jubilee singers. “Poems are a good idea.”
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