The Collection Plate, Kendra Allen
The Collection Plate, Kendra Allen
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The Collection Plate
Poems

Author: Kendra Allen

Narrator: Kendra Allen

Unabridged: 1 hr 2 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Publisher: Ecco

Published: 07/06/2021

Synopsis

A deeply wrought and joyful debut poetry collection from an exciting new voice Looping exultantly through the overlapping experiences of girlhood, Blackness, sex, and personhood in America, award-winning essayist and poet Kendra Allen braids together personal narrative and cultural commentary, wrestling with the beauty and brutality to be found between mothers and daughters, young women and the world, Black bodies and white space, virginity and intrusion, prison and freedom, birth and death. Most of all, The Collection Plate explores both how we collect and erase the voices, lives, and innocence of underrepresented bodies—and behold their pleasure, pain, and possibilityBoth formally exciting and a delight to read, The Collection Plate is a testament to Allen’s place as the voice of a generation—and a witness to how we come into being in the twenty-first century. 

About Kendra Allen

Kendra Allen is the author of the memoir Fruit Punch, the poetry collection The Collection Plate, and the essay collection When You Learn the Alphabet, which won the 2018 Iowa Prize for Literary Nonfiction, awarded by Kiese Laymon. She writes to music column “Make Love in My Car” for Southwest Review. She was born and raised in Dallas. 

Reviews

Goodreads review by Kimmylongtime on June 07, 2021

The collection plate was a book of poetry that rocked me to my 🦴 bones. It is very rare that I read something that has a voice like this one. There wasn’t any great romance that broken her heart. There wasn’t some man/woman that left her. She was fully aware and conscious in this one🙌🏽. I have never......more

Goodreads review by Amy on May 01, 2021

I won this through a giveaway in exchange for an honest review... I don’t have much to say on this, except that is was pretty good. Poetry is personal, and everybody liked different things...it speaks to people in different ways. It wasn’t the best that I’ve read, but it definitely wasn’t the worst,......more

Goodreads review by Bookish_BrownGirl on January 25, 2021

Poems filled with passion, agony, and anguish reveal the emotions of black lives. This writer's bold and demanding tone emerges powerfully with infinitive phrases and genuine craft. My favorite poems are ‘Solace by Earl’, ‘I am the note Held Towards the End’, ‘Gifting back Barn and Bread’, and ‘I co......more

Goodreads review by Candice on June 17, 2021

Aptly personal, intimate, Southern, and Black, 𝙏𝙝𝙚 𝘾𝙤𝙡𝙡𝙚𝙘𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣 𝙋𝙡𝙖𝙩𝙚 is a testament to the generations of Black voices, trapped and free, that now have the ability to stand in their truth and see themselves fully. Kendra Allen’s debut poetry collection collects your hearts, your spirit, and your mind......more

Goodreads review by Dre on June 23, 2021

This poetry collection grabbed me swiftly by the throat from the first page and choked me up all the way through. Read some things I wish I couldn't relate to and others I was sad the author had the language to bear witness. Thoughts of scarlet red-lined church pews and my grandma's hands came to mi......more

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