{"product_id":"the-book-of-alice-poems-diamond-forde-paperback","title":"The Book of Alice: Poems -- Diamond Forde, Paperback","description":"\u003cb\u003eFrom award-winning author Diamond Forde comes a stunningly powerful poetry collection exploring lineage and the legacy of survival as seen through the life of her grandmother Alice--a Black woman born in the Jim Crow South--using the King James Bible as a narrative framework.\u003c\/b\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ci\u003e\"Alice \/ a god-song, swings still in the high \/ branch of our throats. I miss her, wonder \/ what she plants in heaven's mulch.\"\u003c\/i\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eWhen her grandmother Alice died, poet Diamond Forde inherited a well-worn copy of the KJV Bible to remember her by. Borrowing forms, themes, and characters from its pages, Diamond resurrects her memory in a new sacred text: \u003ci\u003eThe Book of Alice\u003c\/i\u003e. With rich, surprising language and formal dexterity, these poems retell the story of her life. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eBorn in rural North Carolina, Alice joined the tide of the Great Migration when she made her exodus to New York City. She married, divorced, and raised eight children, all while struggling to define herself in an America that looks frighteningly like our own. Exploring themes of oppression, liberation, and redemption, Forde draws bold parallels between biblical narratives and the lived experiences of Alice and other Black women, so often relegated to the margins of history. These poems feature the voices of Lot's wife, Sethe from Morrison's \u003ci\u003eBeloved\u003c\/i\u003e, and even the sow from Noah's ark, and embody creative apocryphal forms like recipes, a family tree, and a US Census Report alongside imagined psalms and scriptures. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eMore than a poetry collection, \u003ci\u003eThe Book of Alice\u003c\/i\u003e is a dialogue with the past, a meditation on the present, and a road map for the future. Essential reading for anyone drawn to the intersections of race, gender, history, and the unyielding power of personal stories, \u003ci\u003eThe Book of Alice\u003c\/i\u003e is a heartfelt elegy and an invitation to find strength in the roots of our shared humanity.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAuthor:\u003c\/b\u003e Diamond Forde\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublisher:\u003c\/b\u003e Scribner Book Company\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublished:\u003c\/b\u003e 01\/20\/2026\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePages:\u003c\/b\u003e 96\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eBinding Type:\u003c\/b\u003e Paperback\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eWeight:\u003c\/b\u003e 0.20lbs\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eSize:\u003c\/b\u003e 9.00h x 6.00w x 0.24d\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN:\u003c\/b\u003e 9781668078402\u003cbr\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eAbout the Author\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003eDiamond Forde's debut collection, \u003ci\u003eMother Body\u003c\/i\u003e, was chosen by Patricia Smith as the winner of the 2019 Saturnalia Poetry Prize. She has been the recipient of the Pink Poetry Prize, the Furious Flower Poetry Prize, and CLA's Margaret Walker Memorial Prize, and other honors. She is a Callaloo, Tin House, and Ruth Lilly and Dorothy Sargent Rosenberg fellow whose work has appeared in \u003ci\u003eBoston Review\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eMassachusetts Review\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eNinth Letter\u003c\/i\u003e, and elsewhere, and she serves as the interviews editor for \u003ci\u003eHoney Literary\u003c\/i\u003e. Diamond\u003ci\u003e \u003c\/i\u003eholds an MFA from The University of Alabama and a PhD in creative writing with concentrations in African American poetics and fat studies from Florida State University. She is an assistant professor at North Carolina State University.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Diamond Forde","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47488056164580,"sku":"9781668078402","price":15.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0611\/9587\/8628\/files\/9781668078402.jpg?v=1777434693","url":"https:\/\/bookandmortar.com\/products\/the-book-of-alice-poems-diamond-forde-paperback","provider":"BookandMortar","version":"1.0","type":"link"}