There Are More Beautiful Things Than Beyonce

[A] brash, risque collection that explores what it means to be a black woman in contemporary American culture. Parker, whose first book won the Gatewood Prize, is as self-assured as the women who appear in these pages, including Queen Latifah, Nikki Giovanni and Michelle Obama. Cultural references, old songs and classic poems spark observations about feminism, sex and desire at a time when “There’s far too many of me dying./ The present is not so different.” … Each woman in this fierce collection wants to be seen for who she is, not what society wants her to be, and each demands respect. * Washington Post * This singular poetry collection is a dynamic meditation on the experience of, and societal narratives surrounding, contemporary black womanhood… . Ranging from orderly couplets to an itemized list titled after Jay Z’s “99 Problems” to lines interrupted by gaping white space, these exquisite poems defy categorization. * The New Yorker * Parker’s poems are the real thing. By turns lyrical and declarative, rich with striking details and unexpected images * Poetry Review * Full of soul, sass, vim and attitude . . Playful, angry, sexy and as accessible as it is acerbic. * Tatler, Sebastian Shakespeare * An excellent collection of poems * Jon McGregor, New Statesman, Books of the Year 2017 * Some of the most brilliant and daring poetry published in recent years. From police violence to the Obamas to, well, Beyonce, this collection is not only visceral and beautiful but also full of wit, pop culture and political references. * Elle magazine *

Morgan Parker is the author of Magical Negro (Corsair 2019), There Are More Beautiful Things Than Beyonce (Corsair 2017), and Other People’s Comfort Keeps Me Up at Night (Switchback Books 2015). Her poetry and essays have been published and anthologized in numerous publications, including the Paris Review; The BreakBeat Poets: New American Poetry in the Age of Hip-Hop; Best American Poetry 2016; the New York Times; and the Nation. Parker is the recipient of a 2017 National Endowment for the Arts Literature Fellowship, winner of a 2016 Pushcart Prize, and a Cave Canem graduate fellow.

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