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Dark Testament

Blackout Poems
By Crystal Simone Smith
0.0 (0 reviews)
4.38 goodreads logo

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Check link for latest rating. ( 196 ratings, 39 reviews)
Book Hero Magic crafted this summary to help describe this book. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! Summary
Dark Testament is a powerful collection of poems by Crystal Simone Smith, inspired by passages from George Saunders's Lincoln in the Bardo. This poignant work explores collective mourning through stark, gripping verses that confront tragic truths about lives lost unjustly and too soon. Smith’s bold poetry serves as both a reflection on our troubled present and a call for justice and healing.
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Format: Hardback
$3799
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Book Hero Magic created this recommendation. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! IS THIS YOUR NEXT READ?

Ideal for young readers interested in poetry that addresses social justice, grief, and history, as well as educators seeking meaningful literature to spark conversation on collective mourning and resilience.

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In this extraordinary collection the award-winning poet Crystal Simone Smith gives voice to the mournful dead, their lives unjustly lost to violence, and to the grieving chorus of protestors in today’s Black Lives Matter movement, in search of resilience and hope.

In this extraordinary collection the award-winning poet Crystal Simone Smith gives voice to the mournful dead, their lives unjustly lost to violence, and to the grieving chorus of protestors in today's Black Lives Matter movement, in search of resilience and hope.

Book Hero Magic formatted this description to make it easier to read. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! Description

With poems found within the text of George Saunders's Lincoln in the Bardo, Crystal Simone Smith embarks on an uncompromising exploration of collective mourning and crafts a masterwork that resonates far beyond the page. These poems are visually stark, a gathering of gripping verses that unmasks a dialogue of tragic truths—the stories of lives taken unjustly and too soon.

Bold and deeply affecting, Dark Testament is a remarkable reckoning with our present moment, a call to action, and a plea for a more just future.

Book Hero Magic summarised reviews for this book. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! HOW HAS THIS BEEN REVIEWED?

Acclaimed author George Saunders praises the book as a "tremendously skillful, timely, and dazzling repurposing" of his novel, recognising Smith's profound empathy and poetic ear. Carole Boston Weatherford, Coretta Scott King Award winner, commends the subtractive blackout poem structure as a fitting tribute to grief and loss. Critics hail Smith as a "vibrant, clear-eyed, and gifted poet," with Dark Testament serving as an important and necessary response to today's fractured world.

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Book Details

INFORMATION

ISBN: 9781250854360

Publisher: St Martin's Press

Format: Hardback

Date Published: 03 January 2023

Country: United States

Imprint: St Martin's Press

Illustration: 4c photo insert

Audience: Children

DIMENSIONS

Spine width: 17.0mm

Width: 161.0mm

Height: 237.0mm

Weight: 384g

Pages: 128

Collections

Children's Books Children’s, Teenage and Educational Crystal Simone Smith

About the Author

Crystal Simone Smith is the author of two poetry chapbooks, Routes Home, and Running Music. She is also the author of Wildflowers: Haiku, Senryu, and Haibun. Her work has appeared in numerous journals, including Callaloo, Nimrod, Barrow Street, Obsidian II: Literature in the African Diaspora, African American Review, and Mobius: The Journal of Social Change. She is an alumna of the Callaloo Creative Writing Workshop and the Yale Summer Writers Conference. She holds an MFA from Queens University of Charlotte and lives in Durham, North Carolina, with her husband and two sons where she teaches English composition and creative writing. She is the managing editor of Backbone Press. crystalsimonesmith.com

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