2021 One Book, One Philadelphia Announced: The Tradition – Apr 14

Posted by Free Library of Philadelphia on February 2, 2021

“I begin with love, hoping to end there,” Jericho Brown writes in his Pulitzer Prize-winning poetry collection that weaves national history with the deeply personal. The Tradition questions why and how we have become accustomed to terror, from mass shootings to intimate partner violence to racialized violence against Black and Brown people. Challenging fears and beliefs handed down through generations, these powerful poems explore experiences of Blackness, queerness, masculinity, family, spirituality, and the natural world. Brown invites readers to experience poems like music. We follow along to the sound and open ourselves up to new feelings. Brown encourages us to find new ways of thinking, healing, and re-envisioning our world.

Check out your ebook, audiobook, or paperback copy from the Free Library today!

Young readers will join the conversation with youth companion titles The Poet X by Elizabeth Acevedo (middle school grades) and Hey Black Child by Useni Eugene Perkins and Bryan Collier (children’s).

Stay tuned to the One Book website for events, discussion guides, blog posts, conversations, and more. Don’t miss Jericho Brown at our virtual celebration on Wednesday, April 14 at 7:30 p.m. as we kick off eight weeks of One Book, One Philadelphia programming!