A Toast in the House of Friends - Paperback

by Akilah Oliver (Author)

"Don't expect sense from these poems, in which grief, politics, literary theory, and sexuality interweave. But do expect language surprise and beautiful metaphors. . . . When [Akilah] Oliver presents her experiences in metaphor-rich language, the reader feels what she feels: incredible loss, infinite pain."--Library Journal

"An extraordinary gift for everyone."--Alice Notley

Written for her son, Oluchi McDonald (1982-2003), Akilah Oliver's poems incorporate prose, theory, and lyric performance into a powerful testimony of loss and longing. In their journey through the borderlands of sorrow, they grapple with violence, find expression in chants, and, like the graffiti she analyzes, become a place of public and artistic memorial. "If memory is the act of bearing witness," she writes, "then the dream is a friend driving us somewhere."

Akilah Oliver is the author of the she said dialogues, recipient of the PEN/Beyond Margins Award. Born and raised in Los Angeles, she currently lives in Brooklyn and curates the Monday Night Reading Series at the Poetry Project.

Author Biography

Akilah Oliver is the author of the she said dialogues, recipient of the PEN Beyond Margins Award. Born and raised in Los Angeles, she has served as artist-in-residence at Beyond Baroque, curated the Poetry Project's Monday Night Reading Series, and taught at Naropa University's Summer Writing Program. She currently lives in Brooklyn.