Finna: Poems (Paperback) (ISBN-13: 9780593132456)

Sharp, lyrical poems celebrating the Black vernacular--its influence on pop culture, its necessity for familial survival, its rite in storytelling and in creating the safety found only within its intimacy

"Terrific . . . illuminates life in this country in a strikingly original way."--Ron Charles, The Washington Post

NAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY NPR - The New York Public Library - Tordotcom

Definition of finna, created by the author: fin-na /ˈfinə/ contraction: (1) going to; intending to rooted in African American Vernacular English] (2) eye dialect spelling of "fixing to" (3) Black possibility; Black futurity; Blackness as tomorrow

These poems consider the brevity and disposability of Black lives and other oppressed people in our current era of emboldened white supremacy, and the use of the Black vernacular in America's vast reserve of racial and gendered epithets. Finna explores the erasure of peoples in the American narrative; asks how gendered language can provoke violence; and finally, how the Black vernacular, expands our notions of possibility, giving us a new language of hope:

nothing about our people is romantic
& it shouldn't be. our people deserve
poetry without meter. we deserve our
own jagged rhythm & our own uneven
walk towards sun. you make happening happen.
we happen to love. this is our greatest
action.

Author: Nate Marshall
ISBN-10: 0593132459
ISBN-13: 9780593132456
Publisher: One World
Language: English
Published: 08/11/2020
Pages: 128
Format: Paperback
Weight: 0.30lbs
Size: 8.10h x 5.40w x 0.50d

Review Citation(s):
Publishers Weekly 07/20/2020 pg. 158
Booklist 08/01/2020 pg. 17