Open Daily: 10am - 10pm | Alley door pickup 10am - 7pm 3038 Hennepin Ave Minneapolis, MN
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  • Open Daily: 10am - 10pm
    Alley-side Pickup: 10am - 7pm

    3038 Hennepin Ave Minneapolis, MN
    612-822-4611

Open Daily: 10am - 10pm | Alley-side Pickup: 10am - 7pm
3038 Hennepin Ave Minneapolis, MN
612-822-4611
What the Mirror Said: The Necessity of Black Women in Poetry

What the Mirror Said: The Necessity of Black Women in Poetry

Jones, Ashley M.

Paperback

Series: Poets on Poetry

Letters & EssaysFiction AnthologiesPoetry Criticism

Publisher Price: $16.95

ISBN10: 0472040197
ISBN13: 9780472040193
Publisher: University of Michigan Press
Published: Apr 21 2026
Pages: 100
Weight: 0.30
Height: 0.40 Width: 5.30 Depth: 7.90
Language: English
When did you feel the pull of poetry? For Ashley M. Jones, the moment she knew she would be a poet was at seven years old--reciting Harriet Tubman by Eloise Greenfield. That moment, that poem, showed her there was a place for her in the world of literature as her full Black self. As she continued to grow as a person and a poet, becoming the first person of color and the youngest person to serve as Poet Laureate of Alabama, Jones encountered so many incredible Black women poets who showed her the possibilities.

Part critical essay, part personal essay collection, What the Mirror Said traces the influence of nine Black women poets in Jones's writing and life. She brings together historical biographical information, personal reflection, and close readings as she explores personal connections to poets from Phillis Wheatley to Patricia Smith. This book is expansive in its study, from classical metrical scansion to metaphorical explication. In offering new ways to interpret poems by important contemporary poets, What the Mirror Said makes the case for the need to study and celebrate Black women poets.

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