From Totems to Hip-hop

Collects American poetry divided into sections such as nature, family, andolitics, by individuals including Bessie Smith, Langston Hughes, Agha Shahidli, Marianne Moore, Tupac Shakur, Russell Leong, and Ernesto Trejo.

Ishmael Reed is a novelist, poet, playwright, and essayist who has published nine critically acclaimed novels and more than a dozen other books of poetry and essays. In additional to being nominated for a National Book Award for Poetry, recent awards have included the Lila Wallace-Reader's Digest Award, a John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation Fellowship, and 2008 Blues Songwriter of the Year from the West Coast Blues Hall of Fame. He is Professor Emeritus at University of California at Berkeley.