Recommended Reads for Equity: Drama & Poetry

Recommended by: Anonymous, Staff UW Seattle, Prospect Development

" This book is a collection of poems that cover such issues as the shooting of black men by the police, black men being diagnosed with HIV, racism in America, and so many other things. The poems are beautifully written and heartbreakingly honest."

Recommended by: Anonymous, Student UW Seattle, iSchool

" I'm recommending this book because it is written from #ownvoices."

Recommended by: Sydney Krueger, Student UW Seattle, iSchool

" In a series of poems written in his native Pidgin, Tonouchi describes his life growing up in Hawaii, in his revelational book Significant Moments in da Life of Oriental Faddah and Son. Tonouchi throughout his life struggles to create a space that is completely representative of his own history. His ethnicity as an Okinawan further complicates his path as he simultaneously tries to discover his heritage and find a place for himself in America, realizing that there’s multiple streams of marginalization that he must deal with throughout his life. His family life is also analyzed throughout the book. His tenuous relationship with his father after his mother’s death and his relationship with his grandma who asks him to lean into his Okinawan heritage despite being marginalized for it."

Recommended by: Amy Scott-Zerr, Alumna UW Seattle, English

" Fabulous book. This book is part of the local literature of Hawaiʻi. It is a book of poetry written in Hawaiian Pidgin or Hawaiian Creole English. It is about growing up in Hawaiʻi, Okinawan culture and father-son relationships. He discusses issues of family, migration, grief, loss and longing. He also discusses Okinawan history, cuisine and folklore."

Recommended by: Holly Shelton, Student UW Seattle, English

" From the author's website: Survivor’s Guilt by Julia Mallory is a monumental meditation on grief and the aftermath of loss. These poems and essays are difficult but necessary in a time of digital death archives and extrajudicial killings. The writer is trying to understand what it means to live in a world of pervasive premature Black death."