Journalist and Author Kevin Powell is one of the most acclaimed political and cultural voices in the United States. An important voice in Hip-Hop journalism, he is also a poet and an author of 15 books.
Powell is currently in Los Angeles to celebrate the release of his new book, “Grocery Shopping With My Mother,” which is a book of 32 poems.
“I’ve been writing since I was a kid, and I have been so very blessed to create in so many forms—articles, blogs, essays, scripts, cultural criticism—but nothing brings me as much joy as writing poetry.”
Kevin Powell
The brunch and book signing event will be hosted by Malik Books Dec. 10 at Post and Beam near the Baldwin Hills/Crenshaw mall.
Malik Books is a popular destination for Black authors in Los Angeles and well-known Black celebrities.
When Powell’s elderly mother became ill, he returned home every week to take her grocery shopping in Jersey City.
Walking behind her during those trips, Powell began to hear her voice, stories, and language in a new way—examining his own healing while praying for hers.
It is humbling to get my 15th book and third poetry book out to the world. It is deeply inspired by my mother, all that she has survived, and my grocery trips with her when she was battling illness. But the book is also about America, about love, about mental health, about the world I would love to see, in poetic form.”
Kevin Powell
“Grocery Shopping with My Mother” dives into the complexities of relationships and contemporary themes with honesty and vulnerability.
They first originated as social media posts about these visits with his mother, and quickly evolved into a collection of thirty-two new poems.
The book is crafted like an album, including four bonus tracks celebrating a great love of wordplay.
Culturally rooted in the literary traditions of Ntozake Shange and Allen Ginsberg, Powell’s poems honor the likes of V (formerly Eve Ensler), bell hooks, and Sidney Poitier.
Creatively and spiritually inspired by Stevie Wonder’s Songs in the Key of Life, Powell’s poems shift in form and style, from praise chants to reverential meditations to, most importantly, innovative hope.
To reserve your spot, visit: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/la-lets-celebrate-kevin-powells-15th-book-grocery-shopping-with-my-mother-tickets-473396590947?aff=ebdssbdestsearch
Powell’s next title will be a biography of Tupac Shakur. A native of Jersey City, New Jersey, he lives in Brooklyn, New York.
