"It is time to sing." Grown is a gospel, with Claudia Wilson "singing soprano in perfect pitch." Wilson draws the reader into both the poignant melody and discord of blackness in America, through vivid vignettes and hymn-like prose. This collection is both an ode to homes past and a prayer to move forward from them. Each of Wilson's poems will echo in the soul long after you read this book. Grown is nothing short of a true triumph.

"Claudia Wilson captures the wisdom and tribulation of innocence in these poems with subtlety and brilliance. The voice here, a youth at play and too grown for their age at the same time, is laid out that Wilson's most stunning and gutting moments are volleyed at you while you're caught up in this chapbooks wit, humor, delicious curiosity and black, jubilant play. The poems here Cuss ya cousin out kinda good. Grown is maybe one of my favorite chapbooks I've come across--brief, brilliant, and surely black."--Danez Smith

Poetry. African & African American Studies. Women's Studies. LGBTQIA Studies. Music.