Living in Babylon: Poems and Performances [Paperback]

Esther Iverem (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 15, 2005

Esther Iverem’s new collection of poems is a wide-ranging meditation that proves the adage that the personal is political, and the political is profoundly personal. As an active member of DC Poets Against the War, she is a member of a new generation of poets actively engaged in speaking truth to power in a new era of global empire. Praise for Iverem's The Time: Portrait of a Journey Home: "Iverem is one of a growing cohort of young poets whose inaugural volumes promise that 21st century African American literature will be both brilliant and incendiary—in the tradition. ...There is a fresh and refreshing sensibility at work in her poetry. ...With such a heart, with such a voice as Esther Iverem’s, we’re bound to win.” —Lorenzo Thomas, African American Review “Exuberant…Iverem’s poems do more than just embrace the political. Her book is a document which describes just how entwined the personal and political are for African Americans in this country.” –-Robyn Selman, New York Newsday "Esther Iverem ... is one of the light-bearers, committed to an aesthetic of innovation, justice, and struggle. Her words bite, purr, snarl, scream, shout, spit, soar, sing and hit with the skilled ferocity of a master martial artist. You don't quite know what hit you." —Fred Ho, Composer and Bandleader Blurbs on recent work: ”Most moving”—DC Indy Media “Remarkable”—Sarah Browning, DC Poets Against the War

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Esther Iverem is a journalist, author and poet whose forthcoming book is Living in Babylon (Africa World Press). Her film reviews regularly appear on SeeingBlack.com, a web site she founded in 2001 for the dissemination of reviews, news and commentary from a Black perspective. She is a former staff writer for The Washington Post, New York Newsday and The New York Times, and is a contributing critic and essayist for BET.com and National Public Radio. Her first book of poems and photographs, The Time: Portrait of a Journey Home (Africa World Press), received positive reviews, and she has been featured in Black Issues Book Review, on MSNBC.com, and on the Tavis Smiley Show. She is a contributor to numerous anthologies, including “Step into a World: A Global Anthology of the New Black Literature,” edited by Kevin Powell and “The Garden Thrives: Twentieth Century African American Poets,” edited by Clarence Major. Her poem, “What Do You Believe In?” was broadcast internationally as part of the October 2003 March on Washington on the National Mall. She is a graduate of the University of Southern California and Columbia University, and is also the recipient of a National Arts Journalism Fellowship. A native of North Philadelphia, she lives in Washington, DC and New York City.

Product Details

• Paperback: 64 pages
• Publisher: Africa Word Press, Inc. (November 15, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 159221410X
• ISBN-13: 978-1592214105
• Product Dimensions: 8.1 x 5.3 x 0.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #9,153,596 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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