Welcome to Litsy!

Poet's experience of alienation, violence, colonialism, colourism, racism, in Sudan (Egypt?) and the US.
The inclusion of Arabic within the poems is eloquent in conveying how unlikely it is that I can fully grasp all the layers of meaning present, (though there is a glossary and notes in the back that may assist) any more than I can share all the poet has experienced. Still, I owed it to her work to try. 1/2

🎂🎁😉

Well, will you look at that? I‘ve finished my January #bookspin & this month‘s #ReadingAfrica2022 #Sudan.

This was such an interesting collection. Elhillo is a Sudanese-American poet. It‘s her story of living between 2 worlds (speaking with an accent in both), her mother‘s story (Sudan as gardens & Motown), her grandparents story (the title. !.) Language, race, colonialism & ongoing conversations with a (dead) Egyptian singer. I liked this a lot.

REPOST for @LitsyBirthdays :

The birthday fairies are busy preparing to celebrate all of our Littens‘ January birthdays!

If you‘d like to be added to the list to receive #birthdaylove on your special day, send an email to litsybirthdays@gmail.com, including your Litsy handle and your birthdate. 😊🥳🎉🎈

Let‘s CELEBRATE together!!! 🧚‍♂️🧚‍♀️🧚🧚‍♀️🧚🧚‍♀️

@robinb @squirrelbrain @KarenUK @Crazeedi @gradcat

“& i thought i‘d be older before starting to ask
what if i die what happens to everything i haven‘t yet
said”

#thesealeychallenge 7/31

Phenomenal collection from my friend Safia, a poet of Sudanese descent exploring themes of displacement, love, borders, racial identity, and colorism, with characteristic nuance and sensitivity. A melancholic and beautiful little book.

Not what I look for in a poetry collection in terms of form, but I love the themes of colonization, diaspora, and the issues of identity these states create in the author. ⭐️⭐️⭐️

"i'm still on a date / and the words say something to me in arabic / fall backwards down his throat / {next page} / & what is a country but the drawing of a line I draw thick black / lines around my eyes & they are a country & thick red lines around / my lips & they are a country"

(from "alternate ending," a poem about midway through The January Children)

Been dying to get my hands on this and it was totally worth it!

starting off my saturday wih some poetry 📖

I seem to have a lot of new followers this weekend! Hello newest of Littens! Hope you have fun here on Litsy! If you're stuck on what to post, join in on the monthly book photo challenge #readjanuary and tag me so I can see what you're up to!

Also stop by and say hi and tell us what you're up to, whether you're new or not!

I've been baking for Lunar New Year next week - chocolate chip cookies and pork floss cookies!

Happy new year everyone! Today's #readjanuary prompt is #bookishresolutions
What resolutions are you making for this new reading year? More classics? More #diversereads? More books in translation? More posting on Litsy? More reading? Less (or more?) book buying? Let us all know!

Safia Elhillo, a Sudanese-American poet, was one of the best discoveries I made in my year of intentionally reading more African literature. Sudan has changed immensely since her parents were young and these poems are about language and place, identity and belonging. My favorite was left out of this collection so I will link to it in the comments. Her words are strong on the page but when she performs them, she weaves poems together into stories.