Everyday People

by Kevin Coval

A hip-hop writer writing against type, given his white, Jewish, suburban origins, Coval is more seasoned and tapped into the depths of Chicago life and literature in his second collection, following the bristling Slingshots (2006). In “Sunrise” and a towering tribute to Jane Addams, he’s a veritable reincarnation of Carl Sandburg, only now the city’s stalwart workers are “toiling in the death / of industry.” Coval’s affinity for Chicago’s crazy-quilt of ethnicities and races, the dreams of immigrants and seekers, infuse his poems with lamentation and exaltation as he celebrates uniqueness and commonality. Funny, sexy, and empathic, he riffs on the knot of family and the revelations kicked up by chance encounters, meditates on America’s sorrows and beauty as he rides cross-country trains and a subway that rises from the shadows to the light on elevating tracks. Curious about everyone’s story, Coval is an enemy of complacence and a believer in cross-pollination, and like the corner store he describes, his well-stocked poems contain “beef jerky and sandalwood incense,” that is, earth and spirit, body and soul. --Donna Seaman

Genres: Poetry

91 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2008

About the author

Kevin Coval is an award-winning poet & author of Everything Must Go: The Life & Death of an American Neighborhood, A People's History of Chicago & over ten other full-length collections, anthologies & chapbooks. He is the founding editor of The BreakBeat Poets series on Haymarket Books, & Artistic Director of the MacArthur Award-winning cultural organization, Young Chicago Authors, & founder of Louder Than a Bomb: The Chicago Youth Poetry Festival, the world's largest youth poetry festival, now in more than 19 cities across North America. He's shared the stage with The Migos & Nelson Mandela, has published in Poetry Magazine, The Chicago Tribune & CNN.com & co-hosts the podcast, The Cornerstore, on WGN Radio.

Reviews

[Christina · Rating 4 out of 5]

I usually don't like poetry, but this guy is good!

[Sarah Koz · Rating 5 out of 5]

Kevin is great.