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At the Gate: Uncollected Poems 1987–2010
- GenresPoetry
139 pages, Paperback
Published April 14, 2026
About the author
Lucille Clifton
75 books442 followersLucille Clifton was an American poet, writer, and educator from New York. Common topics in her poetry include the celebration of her African American heritage, and feminist themes, with particular emphasis on the female body.
She was the first person in her family to finish high school and attend college. She started Howard University on scholarship as a drama major but lost the scholarship two years later.
Thus began her writing career.
Good Times, her first book of poems, was published in 1969. She has since been nominated twice for the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry and has been honored as Maryland's Poet Laureate.
Ms. Clifton's foray into writing for children began with Some of the Days of Everett Anderson, published in 1970.
In 1976, Generations: A Memoir was published. In 2000, she won the National Book Award for Poetry, for her work "Poems Seven".
From 1985 to 1989, Clifton was a professor of literature and creative writing at the University of California, Santa Cruz. She was Distinguished Professor of Humanities at St. Mary's College of Maryland. From 1995 to 1999, she was a visiting professor at Columbia University. In 2006, she was a fellow at Dartmouth College.
Clifton received the Robert Frost Medal for lifetime achievement posthumously, from the Poetry Society of America.
She was the first person in her family to finish high school and attend college. She started Howard University on scholarship as a drama major but lost the scholarship two years later.
Thus began her writing career.
Good Times, her first book of poems, was published in 1969. She has since been nominated twice for the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry and has been honored as Maryland's Poet Laureate.
Ms. Clifton's foray into writing for children began with Some of the Days of Everett Anderson, published in 1970.
In 1976, Generations: A Memoir was published. In 2000, she won the National Book Award for Poetry, for her work "Poems Seven".
From 1985 to 1989, Clifton was a professor of literature and creative writing at the University of California, Santa Cruz. She was Distinguished Professor of Humanities at St. Mary's College of Maryland. From 1995 to 1999, she was a visiting professor at Columbia University. In 2006, she was a fellow at Dartmouth College.
Clifton received the Robert Frost Medal for lifetime achievement posthumously, from the Poetry Society of America.
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Displaying 1 of 1 review
May 19, 2026
This is a collection of poems that Clifton did not consider worthy of publication during her lifetime, so it doesn’t seem fair to compare them to her other work. That being said, this is much more than simply something for completionists—I would just say that some of the pieces are more valuable for their comparison to her other work than in and of themselves. I admire the work that Kazim Ali has done in compiling these pieces, and his end notes are very helpful.
“we wait together here / beside the pine / as if the past were innocent / as if paint could stop peeling / from our houses every year” (“pine river r.i.p.”).
This section is demonstrative of the collection’s highs: concise wording, brief lines, well-placed line breaks, and cutting imagery. “her way is strewn with bird-blood” (untitled, p. 18) also stuck out to me in a similar way, as did her haiku in memory of the Virginia Tech shooting victims from April 2007: “here nothing happened / historical only the / murder of children” (p. 107).
Clifton is not only a poet of grief, but those were what stood out to me most.
I wouldn’t recommend this as a first taste of her work, but it’s certainly worth reading. Clifton’s work remains incredible, even what she herself set aside in life.
10th book from AWP!
“we wait together here / beside the pine / as if the past were innocent / as if paint could stop peeling / from our houses every year” (“pine river r.i.p.”).
This section is demonstrative of the collection’s highs: concise wording, brief lines, well-placed line breaks, and cutting imagery. “her way is strewn with bird-blood” (untitled, p. 18) also stuck out to me in a similar way, as did her haiku in memory of the Virginia Tech shooting victims from April 2007: “here nothing happened / historical only the / murder of children” (p. 107).
Clifton is not only a poet of grief, but those were what stood out to me most.
I wouldn’t recommend this as a first taste of her work, but it’s certainly worth reading. Clifton’s work remains incredible, even what she herself set aside in life.
10th book from AWP!
Displaying 1 of 1 review