{"product_id":"like-a-hammer-poets-on-mass-incarceration-1","title":"Like a Hammer: Poets on Mass Incarceration","description":"\u003cp\u003eEdited by Diana Marie Delgado\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eHaymarket Books\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e3\/4\/2025, paperback\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eSKU: \u003cspan id=\"pd-product-id\"\u003e9798888902479\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e\u003cem\u003eLike A Hammer\u003c\/em\u003e is an anthology of poems that unearths the shared traumas produced by America's incarceration system.\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003eThese powerful poems of witness seek to address the oppressive systems that make up the US prison-industrial complex, revealing cracks in a criminal punishment system that too often appears unchangeable. The impacts of that system reverberate through lives and across generations. The poets gathered here aim to foreground the real experiences of people touched by the system, to upend dominant narratives, shine light on injustice, and act as a fulcrum around which to organize communities in support of change.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003e\u003cem\u003eLike A Hammer\u003c\/em\u003e explores how art and imagination can serve as vehicles for endurance, offering us the hope to envision a better future.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003eContributors include: Hanif Abdurraqib, Rhionna Anderson, Brian Batchelor, Reginald Dwayne Betts, Marina Bueno, Cody Bruce, Marcelo Hernandez Castillo, Natalie Diaz, Tongo Eisen-Martin, Nikky Finney, Kennedy A. Gisege, Gustavo Guerra, Jessica Hill, Vicki Hicks, Randall Horton, Sandra Jackson, Catherine LaFleur, Ada Limón, Sarah Lynn Maatsch, Christopher Malec, Eduardo Martinez, John Murillo, Angel Nafis, Kenneth Nadeau, Leeann Parker, James Pearl, Christina Pernini, Roque Raquel Salas Rivera, Patrick Rosal, Nicole Sealey, Evie Shockley, Patricia Smith, Sin á Tes Souhaits, Vanessa Angélica Villarreal, Erica \"Ewok\" Walker, Candace Williams, and SHE\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003eWith a foreword by Keeanga-Yamahtta Taylor.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eReviews:\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\"\u003cem\u003eLike A Hammer\u003c\/em\u003e gathers voices we must uplift, and in so doing, uplift ourselves.\" -- Khadijah Queen, author of \u003cem\u003eRadical Poetics: Essays on Literature \u0026amp; Culture\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e\"With nuance and rhythm, these poets take up the mantle of modern blues singers, witnessing America's incarceration problem with heart and soul. \" -- Caits Meissner, editor of \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/burningbooks.com\/products\/the-sentences-that-create-us-crafting-a-writers-life-in-prison\" title=\"The Sentences that Create Us\"\u003e\u003cem\u003eThe Sentences that Create Us\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/a\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\"The range of voices and variety is what makes an anthology worth reading, and \u003cem\u003eLike a Hammer\u003c\/em\u003e offers the reader a kaleidoscope of textures. No weak poem exists within these pages; each is intensely vivid and sharp.\" -- Rachel León, \u003cem\u003eChicago Review of Books\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eAbout the Contributors:\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eDiana Marie Delgado \u003c\/strong\u003eis a poet, editor, playwright, and author of \u003cem\u003eTracing the Horse\u003c\/em\u003e and \u003cem\u003eLate-Night Talks with Men I Think I Trust\u003c\/em\u003e. With extensive experience in executive leadership, Delgado is committed to uplifting writers and cultivating vibrant creative communities. She holds degrees from UC Riverside and Columbia University's MFA program in poetry and resides in Tucson, Arizona.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eKeeanga-Yamahtta Taylor\u003c\/strong\u003e is the author of \u003cspan\u003e\u003ca href=\"https:\/\/burningbooks.com\/products\/race-for-profit\" title=\"Race for Profit\" class=\"text-link\"\u003e\u003cem\u003eRace for Profit: How Banks and the Real Estate Industry Undermined Black Homeownership\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/a\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e, a semi-finalist for the 2019 National Book Award and a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize in History in 2020, and \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/burningbooks.com\/products\/from-blacklivesmatter-to-black-liberation-expanded-second-edition\" title=\"From #blacklivesmatter to Black Liberation\"\u003e\u003cem\u003eFrom #BlackLivesMatter to Black Liberation\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/a\u003e, winner of the Lannan Cultural Freedom Award for an Especially Notable Book in 2016. She is also editor of \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/burningbooks.com\/products\/how-we-get-free-updated-2nd-edition-black-feminism-and-the-combahee-river-collective-1\" title=\"How We Get Free\"\u003e\u003cem\u003eHow We Get Free: Black Feminism and the Combahee River Collective\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/a\u003e, which won the Lambda Literary Award for LGBQT nonfiction in 2018. She is a 2021 MacArthur Foundation Fellow. Taylor is a contributing writer at \u003cem\u003eThe New Yorker\u003c\/em\u003e, a former contributing opinion writer for \u003cem\u003eThe New York Times\u003c\/em\u003e, and her writing has appeared in the \u003cem\u003eLos Angeles Times\u003c\/em\u003e, \u003cem\u003eBoston Review\u003c\/em\u003e, \u003cem\u003eParis Review\u003c\/em\u003e, \u003cem\u003eGuardian\u003c\/em\u003e, \u003cem\u003eThe Nation\u003c\/em\u003e, \u003cem\u003eJacobin\u003c\/em\u003e, and \u003cem\u003eSouls: A Critical Journal of Black Politics\u003c\/em\u003e, \u003cem\u003eCulture and Society\u003c\/em\u003e, among others. Taylor is Professor of African American Studies at Princeton University.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Burning Books","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":52387438067995,"sku":"Like a Hammer","price":22.95,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0466\/5121\/files\/71WVho1RvZL._SL1500.jpg?v=1782165710","url":"https:\/\/burningbooks.com\/products\/like-a-hammer-poets-on-mass-incarceration-1","provider":"Burning Books","version":"1.0","type":"link"}