Blessing the Boats: New and Selected Poems, 1988-2000

Front Cover
BOA Editions, 2000 - Poetry - 132 pages
This long-awaited collection from one of the most distinguished poets working today includes new poems written during the past four years as well as generous selections from previous collections. Annotation. This long-awaited collection by one of the most distinguished poets writing today includes new poems written during the past four years as well as generous selections from Lucille Clifton's award-winning collections Next: New Poems, Quilting, The Book of Light and The Terrible Stories. Clifton employs brilliantly honed language, stunning images and sharp rhythms to address the whole of human experience: birth, death, children, family, illness, sexuality, spirituality and injustice in antebellum and contemporary America. Hers is a poetry that is passionate and wise, not afraid to rage or whisper.

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Contents

the times
13
signs
14
moonchild
15
Copyright

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About the author (2000)

Lucille Clifton was born in Depew, New York on June 27, 1936. She was the first person in her family to graduate from high school. She attended Howard University, where she majored in drama, for two years before deciding that she would rather write poetry. Her first poetry collection Good Times was published in 1969. During her lifetime, she wrote 11 books of poetry and 20 children's books. She won numerous awards including the Coretta Scott King Award for Everett Anderson's Good-bye in 1984, the National Book Award for Blessing the Boats: New and Selected Poems, 1988-2000 in 2001, and the Ruth Lilly Poetry Prize award in 2007. She was the Poet Laureate of Maryland from 1979 to 1985. She died after a long battle with cancer and other illnesses on February 13, 2010 at the age of 73.