Stages, Tramaine Suubi
Stages, Tramaine Suubi
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Stages
Poems

Author: Tramaine Suubi

Narrator: Tramaine Suubi

Unabridged: 1 hr 59 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Publisher: Amistad

Published: 01/27/2026


Synopsis

“Tramaine Suubi is a visionary love poet, and stages makes a singular life feel vaster than the life cycle of a star. In this poetry of dissolution and re-making, of multiplications and expansion, embodied tenderness is a force capable of moving us “beyond the binary.” As it journeys from personhood to “people-hood,” Suubi’s music shimmers and flashes and connects.” — Mary Szybist, National Book Award winner for Incarnadine"This book presents a young person seeing the world with fresh, yet discerning eyes. In stages, Suubi is seeking centeredness in an unstable world. From personal journeys throughout and between continents, Suubi asserts the freedom to be themselves, on their own terms. stages is a thoughtful, rigorous and heartfelt collection of a loving voice." — Tracie Morris, author of human/nature"Tramaine Suubi’s newest book, Stages, crafts new orbits to the oldest questions. As the poems circumnavigate homecomings, desires, and reclamations, the relay baton of sound and syntax passes seamlessly, always ready to hand the reader a line of true substance, a line of unexpected grace, a line of hard-won delight. Suubi insists on playfulness as a site of maturation and love as a protest against multiple erasures. And like celestial bodies, these poems can transfix, predict, and guide one through both dying and newborn light, reminding the reader, “civility is a performance you savage in your dreams.”  — Steven Leyva, author of The Opposite of Cruelty"So rarely do we come across a book like stages, which mirrors how a day, an hour, a moment--can engage every layer of our being. This collection will dazzle you with swirling musings which authentically ground and unground our desires, histories, and identities." — Marisa Tirado, author of Selena Didn’t Know Spanish Either"Once, we are looking at a gaggle of geese punctuating the gradient sky, meanwhile, elsewhere we are in Kampala, in Suubi’s poem. Suubi navigates between the outwardly observed and the deeply internal, and the readers are at a crossroads, sometimes witnessing, other times noting the mechanical dance of our small, exiled lives. Suubi’s sharp, often unblinking, gaze renders each detail with striking precision. What a collection, what a book, what a way to reinvent what African poetry can do, what it will do. A second coming that deserves all the praise for its excellence.” — Adedayo Agarau, author of The Years of BloodCritically acclaimed writer Tramaine Suubi follows up her debut phases, with stages. This powerful meditation, inspired by Lucille Clifton, focuses on choices and changes throughout life, from Yellow Dwarf to Protostar.In this breathtaking companion poetry collection, inspired by the evolution of our brightest star, Tramaine Suubi offers poems alluding to the history of how it came to be and its effects on each human life. Readers will discover poems exploring everything from the gimmicks of capitalism to the false promises of tranquility.This is another brilliant collection that will only reinforce Suubi as a rising star of her generation.

About Tramaine Suubi

Tramaine Suubi is a multilingual writer from Kampala, and a graduate of the Iowa Writers’ Workshop. They are the author of phases and stages, and their creative writing has appeared in over twenty literary anthologies, journals, magazines, and reviews. They work towards the total liberation of all oppressed people.


Reviews

Goodreads review by Jessica on February 03, 2026

This was tremendous. So incredibly vulnerable and still well planned. The book takes us through Tramaine Suubi’s life in stages as categorized by the life cycle of a star. Because of the way the book is organized, there is a clear growth in Suubi as narrator and as a “character” in her life. These p......more

Goodreads review by Ivoree on December 22, 2025

Stages is a nice, quick read that includes several poems, making it an easy & accessible collection. While the poems each stand on their own, I couldn’t identify a strong overall connection or consistent theme tying them together, which made the book feel somewhat disjointed. With a title like Stage......more

Goodreads review by Doc on February 22, 2026

For lovers of language and of culture and themselves, this is a nicely compiled book of poetry. I enjoyed the memories and thoughts it brought back to me as I read. The visions of time and experiences mine and the poets. Very enjoyable.......more

Goodreads review by Books Amongst Friends on March 01, 2026

Format: Gifted Paperback Overall Collection: 3.5/5 Favorite Poem: When You Discover Enjoyment: 3.5/5......more

Goodreads review by Nicole on March 22, 2026

Thank you NetGalley and Amistad Publishing for the review copy of Tramaine Suubi's collection "Stages." Tramaine Suubi is a relatively new poet, and I feel they are going to go places. Suubi writes in freestyle, slipping through language with the grace of a dancer. They play with words, bringing dep......more