Allow Me to Introduce Myself

In an anthology debuting the vibrant collage work of Zharia Shinn, poet Georgia Heard gathers diverse voices around a timeless question: What’s in a name?

Crackling with energy, brimming with heart, and paired with graphic collage illustrations that explode off the page, twenty-nine poems by an array of acclaimed poets—including Aimee Nezhukumatathil, Margarita Engle, Joseph Bruchac, Naomi Shihab Nye, and Charles R. Smith Jr.—explore the intimacy, complexity, and generational power of names and naming. Masterfully curated and featuring a foreword by Joseph Coelho and an author’s note by Georgia Heard, for whom names are “a conduit, a bridge / a hope,” this probing, relatable, and emotionally charged anthology asks, What does it mean to have or bestow a name?

From first introductions to final goodbyes memorialising our heroes and loved ones, from the elation of a hoop king reveling in the props and praise of nicknames like funky dunk hip-shaker and Sir Slam to the weary rage of an immigrant student when yet another attendance-taking teacher butchers their name, this resonant volume presents a bonfire of voices sure to spark lively dialogue and inspire readers to meditate—perhaps in verse?—on the mysteries of their own name.

Includes poems by: Hiwot Adilow, Cassandra Anouthay, Jeffrey Bean, Angela Bridgman, Joseph Bruchac, Joseph Coelho, Rebecca Kai Dotlich, Jennifer Dignan, Robbie Dunning, Zetta Elliott, Margarita Engle, Ralph Fletcher, Kristine O’Connell George, Georgia Heard, Jane Medina, Trisha Moquino, Ephraim Nehemiah, Aimee Nezhukumatathil, Naomi Shihab Nye, Jane Park, Nadine Pinede, Kim Rogers, Charles R. Smith Jr., Suma Subramaniam, Sarah Tsiang, Philip Terman, Ari Tison, Padma Venkatraman, and Janet Wong.