New African:
“It is not every day you get a writer whose heritage spans three continents.” ― Review by Belinda Otis
read the full review here
Poetry River:
“The topics [the poems] explore, the strong tone in which they’re delivered, as well as their anti-Imperialist, feminist themes, and the deep, complicated love for parents, home culture, and ancestry they express… would elicit vibrant class discussions…for inspiration and craft, for performance artists to reflect on the insights in part two.” ― Review by librarian, Wendy
read the full review here
Journal of Asian American Studies:
“Patel deploys a poetics of rage that challenge the revolutionary masculinist rage…” ― Review by Vanita Reddy
Journal of Asian American Studies, Vol. 20, Iss. 2. p. 3
Review quotes chosen by Patel:
“A vibrant, gendered, wordsmith’s voice, speaking Africa, Asia, the metropole, history, the present – the world. Shailja Patel is that rare thing – an activist poet in prose and verse.” ― Gayatri Spivak, Professor at Columbia University
“A work of unwavering moral conscience, a battle cry for justice, expressed through a poetic talent that deserves a global audience.”
— Denns Brutus, South African activist and educator
“Illuminates with compelling artistry and eloquence the shameful secrets of Empire’s history.” — Howard Zinn, A People’s History of the United States
Jasmine Edwards, Gregory Zankowsky, Brookw Minotti ’19