In her third collection of poems, Primack draws on her decade of experience teaching and administering in prison education programs. Written in fictional personas, these pieces bring us directly into the lives of people held behind bars, letting us experience the details of their daily realities. Written with deep empathy and sensitivity, these poems present prisoners not as statistics or cases but as individuals with names, hopes, regrets, and moving stories. As she did with the case for veganism in Kind, Primack stretches the boundaries of what poetry is usually asked to do, putting literature in the service of social justice without sacrificing any of the art.
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Alleyne, author of Difficult Fruit, is an award-winning Trinidadian-American educator, poet, fiction and nonfiction writer. Awarded the Green Rose Prize, her second collection of poetry is a powerful elegy for the victims of hatred and militarized fear. While recognizing that “nothing I say will save” anyone, the poet is unable to “say nothing,” and she celebrates life’s resilience even as she mourns, balancing eloquent lament with hope that the lost will find safe refuge and freedom.