These Lands: A Collection of Voices by Black Poets in Canada

The poems in this collection are filled with incredible Black voices belting necessary narratives. Through a calling in of community, the commonality of shared experiences, and the laying down of roots, these poems echo strength and power. These poems—are family. 

In putting together this chapbook, I looked for pieces that not only held their own on the page, but transformed into movement, dance, joy, pain, diaspora, and even sadness—off the page. This is not an easy or ordinary act. Each piece asks a questions of its reader but offers no answer, no solution. The job of poets here is to open the door or curtain for a moment to let in a sliver of light. Just enough for you to make your way over these mountains, these neighbourhoods, this hunger, this thirst, these hills, these dreams, these fields—these lands.”

— Chelene Knight