Published in 2020
249 pages
Wanda Coleman was born Wanda Evans, and grew up in the Watts neighborhood of Los Angeles during the 1960s. She received fellowships from the John Simon Guggenheim Foundation, The NEA, and the California Arts Council (in fiction and in poetry). She was the first C.O.L.A. literary fellow (Los Angeles Department of Cultural Affairs, 2003). Her numerous honors included an Emmy in Daytime Drama writing, The 1999 Lenore Marshall Prize (for Bathwater Wine), and a nomination for the 2001 National Book Awards (for Mercurochrome). She was a finalist for California poet laureate (2005).
What is this book about?
A voice the world needs, a voice for justice, anti-racism, and equality―here is the greatest and most powerful work of the people’s poet, Wanda Coleman.
One of the most talked about literary collections of the year is this collection by a beat-up, broke, and black woman who wrote with anger, humor, and clarity about her life on the margins. Wicked Enchantment: Selected Poems is a selection of her poems, 130 poems in all spanning four decades, edited and introduced by Terrance Hayes. Rejected by the elites during her lifetime, here’s what people are saying now:
“Wanda Coleman is not just wickedly wise, she is transcendent.” The Washington Post
“Hateful and hilarious, heartbroke and hellbent.” Mary Karr, New York Times bestselling author
“One of the greatest poets ever to come out of L.A.” The New Yorker
“Her work pushes us to confront injustice with as much candor as she did.” Poetry
“Required Reading” Bustle
Brutal. Savage. Triumphant. These are not poems written for a college class, establishment approval, or polite applause; these poems were written because Ms. Coleman had to write what she saw and felt, and she wrote brilliantly. Few if any writers, before or since, have had the courage to write with such honesty about the daily experience of life in a racist world.
