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Love Child's Hotbed of Occasional Poetry: Poems & Artifacts
Love Child’s Hotbed of Occasional Poetry is a twenty-first-century paean to the sterling love songs humming throughout four hundred years of black American life. National Book Award winner Nikky Finney’s fifth collection contains lighthouse poems, narrative hotbeds, and treasured artifacts—copper coins struck from a new matrix for poetry, one that testifies from the witness stand and punctuates the occasional lyric within a new language of “docu-poetry.”
The ancestors arise and fly, and the black female body is the “insurgent sensualist,” hunted but fighting to live and love in the ways it wants and knows best: “I loved being / a black girl but had not yet learned / to play dead . . .”
The tenderness of a father’s handwritten notes shadows the collection like a ghost, while the treasured, not-for-sale interiority of a black girl’s fountainhead takes over every page. “One yellaw gal with an all-black tongue has gone missing.” Finney has composed a new black spiritual, and one of the great voices of our time again stamps her singular sound into the new day.
The ancestors arise and fly, and the black female body is the “insurgent sensualist,” hunted but fighting to live and love in the ways it wants and knows best: “I loved being / a black girl but had not yet learned / to play dead . . .”
The tenderness of a father’s handwritten notes shadows the collection like a ghost, while the treasured, not-for-sale interiority of a black girl’s fountainhead takes over every page. “One yellaw gal with an all-black tongue has gone missing.” Finney has composed a new black spiritual, and one of the great voices of our time again stamps her singular sound into the new day.
- GenresPoetryNonfictionLGBT
237 pages, Hardcover
First published April 15, 2020
10 people are currently reading
415 people want to read
About the author
Nikky Finney
31 books131 followersNikky Finney was born at the rim of the Atlantic Ocean, in South Carolina, in 1957. The daughter of activists and educators, she began writing in the midst of the Civil Rights and Black Arts Movements. With these instrumental eras circling her, Finney's work provides first-person literary accounts to some of the most important events in American history.
In 1985, and at the age of 26, Finney's debut collection of poetry, On Wings Made of Gauze, was published by William Morrow (a division of HaperCollins). Finney's next full-length collection of poetry and portraits, RICE (Sister Vision Press, 1995), was awarded the PEN America-Open Book Award, which was followed by a collection of short stories entitled Heartwood (University Press of Kentucky, 1998). Her next full-length poetry collection, The World Is Round (Inner Light Books, 2003) was awarded the Benjamin Franklin Award sponsored by the Independent Booksellers Association. In 2007, Finney edited the anthology, The Ringing Ear: Black Poets Lean South (University of Georgia Press/Cave Canem), which has become an essential compilation of contemporary African American writers. Her fourth full-length collection of poetry, Head Off & Split, is a National Book Award Winner.
Finney and her work have been featured on Russell Simmons DEF Poetry (HBO series), renowned chef Marcus Samuelsson's feature The Meaning of Food (a PBS production) and National Public Radio. Her work has been praised by Walter Mosley, Nikki Giovanni, Gloria Naylor and the late CBS/60 Minutes news anchor Ed Bradley. Finney has held distinguished posts at Berea College as the Goode Chair in the Humanities and Smith College as the Grace Hazard Conklin Writer-in-Residence.
Finney is currently a Professor of English and Creative Writing at the University Kentucky. She is a founding member of the Affrilachian Poets
In 1985, and at the age of 26, Finney's debut collection of poetry, On Wings Made of Gauze, was published by William Morrow (a division of HaperCollins). Finney's next full-length collection of poetry and portraits, RICE (Sister Vision Press, 1995), was awarded the PEN America-Open Book Award, which was followed by a collection of short stories entitled Heartwood (University Press of Kentucky, 1998). Her next full-length poetry collection, The World Is Round (Inner Light Books, 2003) was awarded the Benjamin Franklin Award sponsored by the Independent Booksellers Association. In 2007, Finney edited the anthology, The Ringing Ear: Black Poets Lean South (University of Georgia Press/Cave Canem), which has become an essential compilation of contemporary African American writers. Her fourth full-length collection of poetry, Head Off & Split, is a National Book Award Winner.
Finney and her work have been featured on Russell Simmons DEF Poetry (HBO series), renowned chef Marcus Samuelsson's feature The Meaning of Food (a PBS production) and National Public Radio. Her work has been praised by Walter Mosley, Nikki Giovanni, Gloria Naylor and the late CBS/60 Minutes news anchor Ed Bradley. Finney has held distinguished posts at Berea College as the Goode Chair in the Humanities and Smith College as the Grace Hazard Conklin Writer-in-Residence.
Finney is currently a Professor of English and Creative Writing at the University Kentucky. She is a founding member of the Affrilachian Poets
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Displaying 1 - 21 of 21 reviews
December 1, 2020
4.5 stars
A masterful work in docu-poetics, and gorgeously bound to boot.
A masterful work in docu-poetics, and gorgeously bound to boot.
November 17, 2021
On the occasion of having finished Love Child's Hotbed
of Occasional Poetry: Poems & Artifacts, I feel a hot wind
has swept through my brain, shaking the corn, sweetening
the air with a longing for justice. Outside the leaves
blow down over and over again, urgently seeking flight
and falling. They are intertwined, the leaves know.
The book knows. The book knows the occasion
can be small or long but it is always asking of us.
To rise to it, to rise into it, to sink in, to sink into it.
On the occasion of writing this I wrote another review
first and saw my cousin, my dead cousin, had reviewed
that same book. Saw her face, her dark hair. Young,
dead cousin who loved books. Another one dead this year.
They are occasions. This hotbed holds them, the sadness
seeded inside me, the grief of watching younger than me
cousins leave like leaves. But their audacity stays
in the air, sweetening my lungs, how I try to carry
them like air. But this is the occasion of a book review,
not the occasion of an elegy. If it's not clear you should
read this book, then the occasion is lost on you.
If it's not clear that Nikky Finney is an orange-flamed
octopus witch, then scrub your glasses, shine
them up. See with your inner sight. See that flight
and falling are intertwined, that the heart bends
toward justice even if history doesn't.
of Occasional Poetry: Poems & Artifacts, I feel a hot wind
has swept through my brain, shaking the corn, sweetening
the air with a longing for justice. Outside the leaves
blow down over and over again, urgently seeking flight
and falling. They are intertwined, the leaves know.
The book knows. The book knows the occasion
can be small or long but it is always asking of us.
To rise to it, to rise into it, to sink in, to sink into it.
On the occasion of writing this I wrote another review
first and saw my cousin, my dead cousin, had reviewed
that same book. Saw her face, her dark hair. Young,
dead cousin who loved books. Another one dead this year.
They are occasions. This hotbed holds them, the sadness
seeded inside me, the grief of watching younger than me
cousins leave like leaves. But their audacity stays
in the air, sweetening my lungs, how I try to carry
them like air. But this is the occasion of a book review,
not the occasion of an elegy. If it's not clear you should
read this book, then the occasion is lost on you.
If it's not clear that Nikky Finney is an orange-flamed
octopus witch, then scrub your glasses, shine
them up. See with your inner sight. See that flight
and falling are intertwined, that the heart bends
toward justice even if history doesn't.
August 4, 2021
Poems, essays, photos, artifacts, this a gorgeous and moving collection on an artist, her family, and the things that moved her.
June 25, 2021
I loved this book so much. Like a poetic scrapbook with interleavings of her father's handwritten letters, newspaper clippings with her early readings and reviews, family photos, Finney incorporates lyrical essays (a paean to pencils!) and packs a political punch about violence to Black bodies, as each of these pieces was written (as the title indicates) in response to a particular occasion or event. Her voice is brassy and funny, elegiac and unsparing, her syntax turns when you least expect it. She celebrates Black intimacy and joy even as she demands a reckoning for ongoing violence. It's dazzling how much this book accomplishes while seeming like a quirky and intimate conversation with the reader. You get a sense of Finney's roving eye, her attuned senses, her delight in being distracted and surprised (by the sight of a fox when she's up early to fly to a poetry reading, by the beauty of a rosy quartz bequeathed to her by a disturbing neighbor). Under it all, a love letter to her father whose accomplishments as a judge she extolls even as she questions the ability of the law, structured under white supremacy, to undo it. She writes matter-of-factly about the dementia that took his memories but poignantly about the love and tenderness that threaded through even that long and difficult loss. I want to read this whole collection again; there was so much pleasure here, even as certain poems erupt and sear (as well they should).
April 14, 2020
From the beautiful dedication to her Uncle Bobby—“with one peach-orchard-blooming mind, ablaze, always ablaze”!!—to each and every carefully placed artifact, this book is a dangerous thing. It might make you wonder how to define it, but if you trust in your ear and read it like a book of poetry, you’ll hear the music and feel the heft of its magnificent pull. Sit with this book, give it a chance to breathe, see the magical mind at play, and allow it to lead you—unit by metrical unit—through what will surely be a groundbreaking masterpiece.
March 18, 2020
I received an advanced reader copy of this book to read in exchange for an honest review via netgalley.
This book includes both poetry and prose. It feels like a memoir and it's interesting that the author added various pictures throughout the book. However, I felt lost while reading it and it didn't really appeal to me. The author's writing is good, but I did found myself pushing through the book in order to finish it. Rating: 3/5 stars
This book includes both poetry and prose. It feels like a memoir and it's interesting that the author added various pictures throughout the book. However, I felt lost while reading it and it didn't really appeal to me. The author's writing is good, but I did found myself pushing through the book in order to finish it. Rating: 3/5 stars
December 12, 2020
#AD: gifted product
Thanks to the publishers, and NetGalley, for providing me with a free eARC of this book in exchange for my honest review.
Warning: this book contains discussions of racism, and the unfair trial and subsequent death sentence of a young boy.
Unfortunately, I find myself struggling to give this book a proper review. First, I would say this: pay heed to the word 'occasional' in the title. The majority of this book is prose vignettes, or prose poetry. This book, for me, is primarily a memoir, or perhaps a homage to the author's father. The writing itself is certainly competent, and often touching. The piece that stood out to me the most was one right towards the end, titled "Black Boy with Cow: A Still Life". This piece was by far the most emotionally of the book, mostly due to its subject matter, but also due to the portrayal it offers of the author's relationship to her father.
This was what I enjoyed about the book. However, I struggled to get involved in many of the prose vignettes, and I was often left wondering if what I was interpreting as prose poetry due to the line breaks was actually a formatting issue. There were many formatting issues with this book, to the point where I was often unsure if something was placed in error or intentionally. I hope this issues are resolved before the book is released, as I would be disapppinted had I paid for this, especially as I felt distracted from the writing itself by the errors with which it was riddled. With better formatting, and error corrections, I do feel as though this book could potentially gain an extra star, but the errors were too distracting for me to enjoy the writing as I perhaps could otherwise.
Rating: 3 stars, could easily be 3.5-4 if formatting errors are removed in the published edition.
Thanks to the publishers, and NetGalley, for providing me with a free eARC of this book in exchange for my honest review.
Warning: this book contains discussions of racism, and the unfair trial and subsequent death sentence of a young boy.
Unfortunately, I find myself struggling to give this book a proper review. First, I would say this: pay heed to the word 'occasional' in the title. The majority of this book is prose vignettes, or prose poetry. This book, for me, is primarily a memoir, or perhaps a homage to the author's father. The writing itself is certainly competent, and often touching. The piece that stood out to me the most was one right towards the end, titled "Black Boy with Cow: A Still Life". This piece was by far the most emotionally of the book, mostly due to its subject matter, but also due to the portrayal it offers of the author's relationship to her father.
This was what I enjoyed about the book. However, I struggled to get involved in many of the prose vignettes, and I was often left wondering if what I was interpreting as prose poetry due to the line breaks was actually a formatting issue. There were many formatting issues with this book, to the point where I was often unsure if something was placed in error or intentionally. I hope this issues are resolved before the book is released, as I would be disapppinted had I paid for this, especially as I felt distracted from the writing itself by the errors with which it was riddled. With better formatting, and error corrections, I do feel as though this book could potentially gain an extra star, but the errors were too distracting for me to enjoy the writing as I perhaps could otherwise.
Rating: 3 stars, could easily be 3.5-4 if formatting errors are removed in the published edition.
June 10, 2022
I LOVE her writing!
August 5, 2022
compelling use of form and photography
August 25, 2025
This may be Nikky Finney’s best work yet. I love her writing..deep, creative, and inspiring!
March 31, 2020
Disclaimer - I received a free digital download of this book by NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
If I am to speak honestly then I must say that the digital copy of the book that I received seemed to have a lot of formatting problems unfortunately and for me it’s very difficult to look past when trying to read and review a book. I also found a lot of spelling and grammar mistakes. I hope that all of the above issues are modified prior to publishing.
I was intrigued by the opening statements of ‘Love Child’s Hotbed of Occasional Poetry’ as it defines something called ‘occasional poetry’ - a term with which I am not familiar and goes on to stipulate that the poetry contained in the book is of the occasional persuasion meant to be read individually as if each poem were a performance.
The poetry in this book is of the long hand prose variety and are enjoyable to read and immerse yourself in. You follow the tales of Love Child and her favoured memory’s. Bearing witness to her last days with her grandmother, struggles with and the death of her father and remembrances of her mother from her childhood days.
The prose goes on to tell stories of different times all rooted in African American culture and history. It was an interesting journey to partake in and explore the authors thoughts and expressions via her written word.
If I am to speak honestly then I must say that the digital copy of the book that I received seemed to have a lot of formatting problems unfortunately and for me it’s very difficult to look past when trying to read and review a book. I also found a lot of spelling and grammar mistakes. I hope that all of the above issues are modified prior to publishing.
I was intrigued by the opening statements of ‘Love Child’s Hotbed of Occasional Poetry’ as it defines something called ‘occasional poetry’ - a term with which I am not familiar and goes on to stipulate that the poetry contained in the book is of the occasional persuasion meant to be read individually as if each poem were a performance.
The poetry in this book is of the long hand prose variety and are enjoyable to read and immerse yourself in. You follow the tales of Love Child and her favoured memory’s. Bearing witness to her last days with her grandmother, struggles with and the death of her father and remembrances of her mother from her childhood days.
The prose goes on to tell stories of different times all rooted in African American culture and history. It was an interesting journey to partake in and explore the authors thoughts and expressions via her written word.
November 23, 2020
Stunning!! Nikky Finney has gifted us with history lessons written in the most exquisite prose. Her occasional poems illustrate how chosen words from a gifted storyteller of ancestry can widen perspective. How I want to sit in the same room, not a virtual room like the one I was fortunate to hear share during the Dodge Poetry Festival but to learn from her. If I could, I would gift this book to every public library, every friend who reaches for better understanding. I feel like I know every member of Nikky Finney's family and rejoice in doing so. I cannot think of a book I have enjoyed more.
May 7, 2020
It is a collection of "occasional poetry", and I like the poet's keen eye on details. However, there is always a thing with "getting too personal". Poems are condensed emotions etc., but the numerous nuances documents, photo copies of letters received, handwrite etc. in the book gives a feeling of sloppiness somehow, and the literary aesthetics got reduced a bit. Liked the dog slaughter poem in the middle.
December 27, 2025
This is a book of all time for me; I know I will return to it ardently. Finney's writing voice is bewitching and dynamic. She plays with language in a way that evokes detailed silhouettes of rare, intentional, and powerful imagery. A single piece could be reflected upon for days; each stanza a tiny, forested world of its own! Throughout a variety of text and media, I was enraptured and engaged by Finney's storytelling, especially within her poems of the longest forms.
July 23, 2020
This collection of stunning "poems & artifacts" is in a category all by itself and best enjoyed slowly in order to fully savor its incredible scope and music. Poems, narratives, artifacts alternate in a loosely woven tapestry paying homage, remembering, and chronicling personal as well as historic events. I wish all history were recounted like that.
April 5, 2020
I received a review copy of this book via NetGalley.
A stunning collection of prose, poetry and treasures all round: in words and in pictures and in their connections to each other and the author's experiences. Vibrant, creative and deeply potent.
A stunning collection of prose, poetry and treasures all round: in words and in pictures and in their connections to each other and the author's experiences. Vibrant, creative and deeply potent.
February 7, 2021
"Love Child's" is the fullness of life—from tender paternal love, Finney's personal ephemera of her career, to explorations of racial trauma. "Black Boy with Cow: A Still Life" is one of the most urgent, complex poems I've read in years. This book emanates a power so stark it's almost unbearable.
July 25, 2025
The heat of the south and nestle of Kentucky: it's here.
I am not that much younger than Nikky Finney, but she sees the world with so many more generations' of eyes than I am in the habit of. I'm awed.
These are poems and stories that make me know pain, love, and place.
I am not that much younger than Nikky Finney, but she sees the world with so many more generations' of eyes than I am in the habit of. I'm awed.
These are poems and stories that make me know pain, love, and place.
September 2, 2020
Excellent
abandoned
August 10, 2024i skimmed this and thought it nice, but perhaps not the right time for it to resonate at a deeper level with me.
November 20, 2023
I really took my time with this one. I wanted to be immersed in this collection as long as possible. Nikki Finney has done it again. This collection of poetry, prose, and family artefacts had me sitting in moments of joy, laughter, and sadness.
“Black Boy with Cow: A Still Life” had me crying and feeling an immense sense of sorrow and frustration.
Hotbed 58 is beautiful and so motivating.
Finney’s word have forced me to source out more of her work. I don’t think I’ll ever stop looking for the words.
“Black Boy with Cow: A Still Life” had me crying and feeling an immense sense of sorrow and frustration.
Hotbed 58 is beautiful and so motivating.
Finney’s word have forced me to source out more of her work. I don’t think I’ll ever stop looking for the words.
Displaying 1 - 21 of 21 reviews