Most Popular Books by Ntozake Shange

A "choreo-poem" reflecting the views of a black American woman about the women of her race

New edition available. Search ISBN 9780807021446. Acclaimed artist Ntozake Shange offers this delightfully eclectic tribute to black cuisine as a food of life that reflects the spirit and history of a people. With recipes such as "Cousin Eddie''s Shark with Breadfruit" and "Collard Greens to Bring You Money," Shange instructs us in the nuances of a cuisine born on the slave ships of the Middle Passage, spiced by the jazz of Duke Ellington, and shared by all members of the African Diaspora. Rich with personal memories and historical insight, If I Can Cook/You Know God Can is a vivid story of the migration of a people, and the cuisine that marks their living legacy and celebration of taste.

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

GMA’s 15 Spectacular New Books to Read in September Ms. Magazine’s September 2023 Reads for the Rest of Us The Millions “Most Anticipated” Books of 2023 LitHub’s Most Anticipated Books of 2023 Never-before-seen unpublished works by award-winning American literary icon Ntozake Shange, featuring essays, plays, and poems from the archives of the seminal Black feminist writer who stands alongside giants like Toni Morrison and Alice Walker, curated by National Book Award winner Imani Perry with a foreword by New York Times bestselling author Tarana Burke. In the late ’60s, Ntozake Shange was a student at Barnard College discovering her budding talent as a writer, publishing in her school’s literary journal, and finding her unique voice. By the time she left us in 2018, Shange had scorched blazing trails across countless pages and stages, redefining genre and form as we know them, each verse, dance, and song a love letter to Black women and girls, and the community at large. Sing a Black Girl’s Song is a new posthumous collection of Shange’s unpublished poems, essays, and plays from throughout the life of the seminal Black feminist writer. In these pages we meet young Shange, learn the moments that inspired for colored girls who have considered suicide/when the rainbow is enuf…, travel with an eclectic family of musicians, sit on “The Couch” opposite Shange’s therapist, and discover plays written after for colored girls’ international success. Sing a Black Girl’s Song houses, in their original form, the literary rebel’s politically charged verses from the Black Arts Movement era alongside her signature tender rhythm and cadence that capture the minutia and nuance of Black life. Sing a Black Girl’s Song is the continuation of a literary tradition that has bolstered generations of writers and a long-lasting gift from one of the fiercest and most highly celebrated artists of our time.

Three artistic Black sisters from South Carolina search for their way in the world in this novel from the award–winning playwright of for colored girls . . . "A jubilant celebration of womanhood—as moving as the moon . . . pure magic." — The Kansas City Star Ntozake Shange''s beloved Sassafrass, Cypress & Indigo is the story of three sisters and their mother from Charleston, South Carolina. Sassafrass, the oldest, is a poet and a weaver like her mother before her. Having gone north to college, she is now living in Los Angeles with other artists and trying to fashion a life for herself out of her work, her man, her memories, and her dreams. Cypress, the dancer, leaves home to discover new ways of moving in the world. Indigo, the youngest, is still a child of Charleston—"too much of the south in her"—who lives in poetry and has the supreme gift of seeing the obvious magic of the world. Shange''s rich and wondrous story of womanhood, art, and passionately lived lives is written "with such exquisite care and beauty that anybody can relate to her message" ( The New York Times). "Possessed of poetry, motion, and light . . . Shange''s tale is poignant, surprising, and deep as she looks at the different worlds of women and their special places therein."― Publishers Weekly

It is about a young Black man who is trying to make it as a professional photographer and is surrounded by caricatures of Black people gone wrong. The exception is a girl friend who is a free and sovereign spirit. The young man''s confidence is shattered when he is turned down for the grant he has counted on.

Through the polyphonic voices of Liliane Lincoln''s childhood friends and lovers, and conversations with her psychoanalyst, Shange reveals the life of a very remarkable young woman--an artist who exposes what she knows of herself to the world through her bold and colorful artwork.

In her first posthumous work, the revered poet crafts a personal history of Black dance and captures the careers of legendary dancers along with her own rhythmic beginnings. Many learned of Ntozake Shange’s ability to blend movement with words when her acclaimed choreopoem for colored girls who have considered suicide/when the rainbow is enuf made its way to Broadway in 1976, eventually winning an Obie Award the following year. But before she found fame as a writer, poet, performer, dancer, and storyteller, she was an untrained student who found her footing in others’ classrooms. Dance We Do is a tribute to those who taught her and her passion for rhythm, movement, and dance. After 20 years of research, writing, and devotion, Ntozake Shange tells her history of Black dance through a series of portraits of the dancers who trained her, moved with her, and inspired her to share the power of the Black body with her audience. Shange celebrates and honors the contributions of the often unrecognized pioneers who continued the path Katherine Dunham paved through the twentieth century. Dance We Do features a stunning photo insert along with personal interviews with Mickey Davidson, Halifu Osumare, Camille Brown, and Dianne McIntyre. In what is now one of her final works, Ntozake Shange welcomes the reader into the world she loved best.

A beautifully illustrated picture book biography of boxing legend Muhammad Ali. Muhammad Ali is considered by many to have been the finest athlete of the twentieth century. Here is a compelling testimony to his courage, resilience in the face of controversy, and boxing prowess by Obie Award-winning author Ntozake Shange. In her own words, Shange shows us Ali and his life, from his childhood in the segregated South, to his meteoric rise in boxing to become the Heavyweight Champion of the World. Edel Rodriguez''s stunning artwork combines pastels, monoprint woodblock ink linework and spray paint on colored papers to capture Ali''s power, spontaneity, and energy. A timeline and list of additional resources in the backmatter help make this a standout picturebook biography of the man known around the world as "The Greatest." The reissue of this compelling portrait will have readers cheering once again for the late American icon.

''Inspiring. Emotionally charged. Ground-breaking'' BERNARDINE EVARISTO ''A revelation. I am so thankful to Ntozake Shange for seeing us, reflecting us and showing us how beautiful we can be'' JESMYN WARD ''Encompassing, it seems, every feeling and experience a woman has ever had'' NEW YORKER The Lady in Red has adored her lover for eight months, 2 weeks and a day, but now she is leaving. The Lady in Blue has an abortion, all alone. The Lady in Brown can read fifteen books in three weeks. The Lady in Purple has met a man, and is finally being real. The Lady in Yellow was a virgin, until she spent her graduation night driving around in a black Buick with boys. And the Lady in Orange has to dance to keep from crying and dying. Written in 1975 and immediately hailed as a masterwork, this ''choreo-poem'' is made up of monologues detailing loss, betrayal, love and community. A passionate and fearless portrait of black womanhood in the twentieth century, it resonates with deep emotional power and unusual beauty. A W&N Essential

An award-winning writer brings to life the story of a young girl''s awakening amidst her country''s seismic growing pains in the American South. "A lyrical coming-of-age novel." — New York Times Set in St. Louis in 1957, the year of the Little Rock Nine, Ntozake Shange''s story reveals the prismatic effect of racism on an American child and her family. Seamlessly woven into this masterful portrait of an extended family is the story of Betsey''s adolescence, the rush of first romance, and the sobering responsibilities of approaching adulthood. "Shange has re-created a humorous, charming, and heartbreaking vision of St. Louis and the Brown family that will delight young and old. She can conjure, as if by magic. . . . Betsey Brown is like an enchanting melody." — St. Louis Post-Dispatch "Ntozake Shange is a unique and gifted, literary executant and works under strong impulses to do things her own way despite settled conventions of craft. The author''s peculiar chemistry (a synonym for talent), plus her singlemindedness, has brought her a decided victory. She has made Betsey Brown live. We care about the child and wonder what will happen to her, how she will fare. This doubtless was the author''s intention—and mission." — Chicago Sun Times

Essays on black theater, dance and music.--

"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.

This volume contains more than sixty poems tackling womens issues such as rape, abortion, suicide, and domestic violence.

Walking many miles to school in the dusty road, young Coretta knew, too well, the unfairness of life in the segregated south. A yearning for equality began to grow. Together with Martin Luther King, Jr., she gave birth to a vision and a journey—with dreams of freedom for all. This extraordinary union of poetic text by Ntozake Shange and monumental artwork by Kadir Nelson captures the movement for civil rights in the United States and honors its most elegant inspiration, Coretta Scott.