Description
Poetry. African & African American Studies. Women's Studies. LGBTQIA Studies. Music. "It is time to sing." GROWN is a gospel, with Claudia Wilson "singing soprano in perfect pitch." Wilson draws the reader into both the poignant melody and discord of blackness in America, through vivid vignettes and hymn-like prose. This collection is both an ode to homes past and a prayer to move forward from them. Each of Wilson's poems will echo in the soul long after you read this book. GROWN is nothing short of a true triumph.
"Claudia Wilson captures the wisdom and tribulation of innocence in these poems with subtlety and brilliance. The voice here, a youth at play and too grown for their age at the same time, is laid out that Wilson's most stunning and gutting moments are volleyed at you while you're caught up in this chapbooks wit, humor, delicious curiosity and black, jubilant play. The poems here Cuss ya cousin out kinda good. GROWN is maybe one of my favorite chapbooks I've come across—brief, brilliant, and surely black."—Danez Smith
Author Bio
Claudia M. Wilson is a poet, instructor, & social worker who lives and plays in Amherst, MA. They have featured at various venues in Ohio & Boston such as Writer's Block, Fazenda Queer Reading, & The Oberon. Claudia's present work in progress centers embodiment, familial relationships, blackness and living in the woods, and WWF wrestlers from the mid-'80s. They do creative community play in two collectives: the Mass Collective and the Black Girl Slumber Party Collective. Claudia studied English & Black Literature at The Ohio State University and is a TWH & VONA graduate. Their chapbook GROWN (Game Over Books, 2019) is about Claudia's time in foster care. They study poetry at Umass Amherst and they live with their cat Pablo a.k.a Lil Pooder a.k.a Pooderbutt. Claudia is an avid watcher of Atlanta, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and Westworld. They're originally from Cleveland, Ohio.
Author City: AMHERST, MA USA