Teahouse of the Almighty

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WINNER:
National Poetry Series

PRAISE

“Teahouse of the Almighty is searing, honest, well-crafted, and full of the real world transformed by Patricia Smith’s fine ear for nuance and the shaking of the soul’s duties. I was weeping for the beauty of poetry when I reached the end of the final poem.”
— Edward Sanders, National Poetry Series judge

“Present at the creation of the slam in early-’80s Chicago, Smith appears to be that rarest of creatures—a charismatic slam and performance poet whose artistry truly survives on the printed page. A superb variety of lines and forms—short and long, hesitant and rapid-fire—gives the book additional depth.
— Publishers Weekly

“What power. Smith’s poetry is all poetry. And visceral. Her poems get under the skin of their subjects. Their passion and empathy, their real worldliness, are blockbuster.”
— Marvin Bell 

“These poems are so fierce and tender, so unflinching, so loud and exquisite, so carefully crafted, so important, so right-on. . . .They bear such terrible beauty. Brava to Miss Patricia Smith, who pulls poems from the center of the earth.”
— Elizabeth Alexander, educator, cultural advocate and award-winning author