New Releases by Ntozake Shange

Shange''s lyrical poem is a tribute to the language of music and the magical, often mystical, rhythms that connect people. Music defines who we are as individuals, the places where we live, and how we exist within our communities. Music is life.Written in a syncopated style that has its own melody, the poem is perfectly married to twenty-one extraordinary and diverse works from Romare Bearden who once said, "I paint in the tradition of the blues."Here is a unique and visionary book that speaks, indeed sings, to both children and adults and is, at once, compelling, profond, and entertaining.

''Ntozake Shange''''s best plays reissued in the new Contemporary Dramatists series. This collection spans twenty years and brings together her works ''''for colored girls who have considered suicide/when the rainbow is enuf''''. ''''Shange''''s poetry is mordantly witty, unpredictable and disciplined. It has to do with love and death and the deepest feelings of young women - in particular, black young women'''' (New Yorker) ''''spell# 7'''' ''''Shange''''s sinewy, erotic, insistent poetry snakes through this play - a powerful and passionate evocation of black culture suppressed, or just plain ignored'''' (Time Out), The Love Space Demands- ''''Focusing on the experiences of black women but drawing on an awesome range of cross-cultural references, her words ooze with earthy sensuality.a remarkable, lyrical experience of live poetry'''' (Independent).''''Shange''''s language is pure gold'''' (City Limits)''

Songs of love and urban tragedy from one of the preeminent African-American writers of our time. Shange''s poems express the need to be felt and heard, to be necessary. In this love space, we all wear our desires, t-cells, and hearts on our sleeves and experience all that comes with wanting to get hold of life, or someone to love.

Fifty-five poems grouped under five headings: "things i wd say," "love & other highways," "closets," " & she bleeds," and "she whispers with the unicorn."

Using the classic call-and-response structure of black music--the visual art work as the call and language as the response--this book provides a unique interchange between contemporary visual arts and poetry

Mapplethorpe presents an astonishing photographic study of black men today. In their diversity, impact, erotic appeal and deep humanity, these photographs constitute a stunning celebration of the contemporary black male. Black-and-white photos throughout.

"Series of poetic vignettes built around the theme of what it means to be black in America, and set in a St. Louis bar frequented by black musicians and artists. The various characters unburden their souls through soliloquies, often supported by appropriate dances which illustrate the emotional content of their speeches." - Doollee website.

Essays on black theater, dance and music.--

The noted poet, playwright, and novelist offers a collection of intensely personal poems intended to map out the geography of life and beauty that she would declare for her daughter