Your Family, Your Body

Penguin Modern Poets #3

by Malika Booker, Sharon Olds, Warsan Shire

Inspired by Penguin's enormously successful '60s series of the same name, the Penguin Modern Poets are succinct, collectible, lovingly-assembled guides to the richness and diversity of contemporary poetry, from the UK, America and beyond. Every volume brings together representative selections from the work of three poets now writing, allowing the seasoned poetry fan and the curious reader alike to encounter our most exciting new voices.

Volume 3, Your Family, Your Body, features the work of Malika Booker, the Guyanese-British writer and performer behind London- and Chicago-based collective Malika's Kitchen; the Pulitzer Prize-winning Sharon Olds, one of America's most brilliant, beloved and candid voices; and Warsan Shire, the award-winning poet and first ever Young Poetry Laureate of London who also lent her words to Beyoncé's visual album Lemonade.

Genres: Poetry, Nonfiction, Anthologies, Womens, Feminism

119 pages, Paperback

First published January 26, 2017

About the author

Malika Booker is a writer, spoken word and multidisciplinary artist, whose work spans literature, education and cross-arts. She was born in the UK to Guyanese and Grenadian parents.

She first began writing and performing poetry in 1989 while at Goldsmiths University, studying anthropology. During her last year there, she realized that her sole career goal was writing poetry.

She spent the first 13 years of her life in Guyana before returning to the UK with her parents. She now lives in South London.

Reviews

[Roman Clodia · Rating 4 out of 5]

What a fabulous idea this series is! Taster selections of contemporary poets in affordable volumes. Here we have three female poets from different cultural backgrounds writing about what connects us to our bodies and to other people (mothers, lovers, husbands, children), and, shockingly, how bodies are abused and horror embodied (female genital mutilation, rape, exile and displacement).

Of the three poets here, Olds is probably the best known and most conventional. Booker captures the rhythms of her African/Caribbean heritage and writes of the strength that comes from pain, grief and something near hate, though not without a sly, wry humour: 'I cutting it off if you lose your mind. / Don't think it. And if you do, don't sleep'.

Somalian-British Shire is the rawest and, perhaps, most exciting: she's at her best in the prose-poetry of exile ('no-one leaves home unless home is the mouth of a shark'), or prejudice ('I hear them say "go home", I hear them say "fucking immigrants"...All I can say is, I was once like you... and now my home is the mouth of a shark, now my home is the barrel of a gun. I'll see you on the other side') or the stark, shocking 'To my daughters I will say / when the men come / set yourself on fire'.

If you're interested in what contemporary poetry can be and do, this is a fine taster.

Review from an ARC via Amazon Vine

[Munira · Rating 4 out of 5]

Warsan Shire's poetry is incredible. I have no words other words to describe it.

[Elke · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was an interesting combo! As i had expected, i loved the pieces by Warsan Shire a lot more but it was good to read outside of my comfort zone too! And i liked the theme of body/family.
I think penguin books like this are a good way of getting to know poets and seeing if you want to get more of their work.

In Love and in War

To my daughter I will say
when the men come,
set yourself on fire.

- Warsan Shire

[Ayesha · Rating 4 out of 5]

Heartbreaking!!!

[Laura AH · Rating 4 out of 5]

I don’t think it would be an exaggeration to say that I thoroughly detested the poetry of Sharon Olds. I never wanted to read a poem about the Pope’s penis and now that I have I wish that I hadn’t. I’d suggest just avoiding her part of the book because Malika Booker and Warsan Shire are awesome and it’s worth getting the book for them.

[Anna · Rating 5 out of 5]

Must be tough being in a poetry collection with Warsan Shire.

Jokes beside, I did really enjoy almost every poem, and every poet was reaaally good. The collections binding theme was culture/family/sexuality and despite all 3 poets having a different style, it worked really well.

[Kamilla · Rating 4 out of 5]

Honestly, I read this for Warsan's work and was not disappointed. Beautiful prose and hard-hitting. I was challenged, moved, disgusted and so happy to be reading one of my favourite modern poets. This is a great collection. And "your grandfather's hands" was probably my favourite of the bunch.

[Joanna Ward · Rating 4 out of 5]

really enjoyed this and loved the variety between the three voices !! well worth a read and I love that the reason for 4* is that not all of it worked for me but that means so many diff people could get a lot from this :))

[Stephen Wood · Rating 5 out of 5]

Consistently great, making it the best of the Modern Poets run so far. Sharon Olds' blending of the profane and the profound is wonderful, and Warsan Shire wrenches beauty from brutality.

[Amira · Rating 4 out of 5]

I got this book because I couldn't find where to buy Her Blue Body by Warsan Shire anywhere, and I was hoping there will be some excerpts of it here. And it was definitely worth it, because I also got to meet Malika Booker. I didn't think Sharon Olds belonged in this series, but there were a couple of her poems that I also enjoyed.
Warsan Shire continues to speak to me on so many levels.

[Cathrin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Well-written but hard-hitting in parts (as trauma poetry goes). Favourites include: "Brixton Market", "How Our Bodies Did This Unfamiliar Thing", and "Your Grandfather's Hands Were Brown".

[McKenna · Rating 4 out of 5]

love love love that you get to read three different poets in one collection

[Em Prend · Rating 3 out of 5]

I love these collections because they excellently match poets and their styles. The highlight of this for me is Warsan shire!

[Andrea Melissa]

My body is burning with the shame of not belonging, my body is longing. I am the sin of memory and the absence of memory.

sin calificación porque solo leí los poemas de Warsan Shire, los cuales amé como de costumbre.

[Alice · Rating 4 out of 5]

A wonderful collection of work from three authors with distinct voices and something to say. Beautiful.

[Claudia · Rating 4 out of 5]

Malika Booker: ****
Sharon Olds: ****
Warsan Shire: *****

[Cindy van Wyk · Rating 3 out of 5]

I finished this a few days ago but I've been holding off on posting until I had some coherent thoughts that would qualify as a review, but honestly? I bought it because of Warsan Shire and I only enjoyed her work. Her writing is, as always, superb, but the rest of the collection fell flat to me. That's all I've got. And I think that's okay.

[noku zhou]

A great intro into their poetry for me. Although I did like the poetry of Warsan Shire and Malika Booker more than Sharon Olds'. However, "New Mother" by Sharon Olds is brilliant.

Other favourites are listed below.
Malika Booker: Cement, Erasure, How Our Bodies Did This Unfamiliar Thing, My Humble Beseech
Warsan Shire: The House, Backwards, Fire, Mermaids

[Philip Coulter · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed Malika Booker the most out of the three. Warsan Shire felt a lot rawer.
I was already familiar with Sharon Olds, and find her sometimes good and sometimes a bit unnerving - too much information for me.
Out of all the Penguin Modern Poets I've read, this probably fits best thematically (see the title) - but each poet with their own distinct take.

[B. · Rating 3 out of 5]

I bought this for the Warsan Shire poems and those were fantastic and worth all 5 stars.

The Malika Booker poems were hit or miss but overall pretty decent. A solid 4 stars.

The Sharon Olds stuff was awful. I didn't like a single one, reading them felt like a drag, and I wish I could unread them all. 0 stars is too much. I feel bad for the felled trees this stuff was printed on.

[sil · Rating 5 out of 5]

'no one leaves home unless
home is the mouth of a shark (...)
no one leaves home until home is a sweaty voice in your ear
saying-
leave,
run away from me now
i dont know what i’ve become
but i know that anywhere
is safer than here'

[Cooch · Rating 4 out of 5]

Some good poems here and one or two very good poems

This is a mixed bag. There are some good poems and some ok poems. There are some excellent poems too. If there is a fault, sometimes these poets are too narrowly fixed on their perceived audience.

[Ely · Rating 4 out of 5]

I desperately need to own everything by Warsan Shire now.

[Gemma · Rating 4 out of 5]

This series is such a nice idea and I'm definitely going to be picking the others up at some point. Each poet has such a strong and individual voice but they each compliment each other well.

[Katrine Solvaag · Rating 5 out of 5]

A must read for any woman who loves poetry.

[Natasha · Rating 5 out of 5]

Powerful stuff. I strongly identify with Malika Booker's poetry talking about a love/hate relationship with your own kin. It really stuck with me all day.

[Janit · Rating 4 out of 5]

As a woman, this book speaks to me on another level. So much emotions.

[Zee · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great collection of impactful poems.

[Sanne · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars

[M-L · Rating 3 out of 5]

A collection of melancholy but often moving poetry.