{"title":"Hope Wabuke","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA;\"\u003eHope Wabuke\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA;\"\u003e is the author of two full-length poetry collections \u003ci\u003eBlood on the Leaves\u003c\/i\u003e (Boa Editions, 2026) and \u003ci\u003eThe Body Family\u003c\/i\u003e (Haymarket Books). She has won fellowships and awards from the National Endowment for the Arts, the Barbara Deming Memorial Foundation, and the Fulbright Foundation, among others. She currently serves as a consulting editor for the African Poetry Book Fund and Susan J. Rosowski Associate Professor of English at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","products":[{"product_id":"blood-on-the-leaves","title":"Blood on the Leaves","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eBlood on the Leaves\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003eby Hope Wabuke is a searing and lyrical poetry collection that explores the intimate, haunted relationship between Blackness and the natural world.\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003eAt once a site of refuge and rupture, nature emerges as both witness to generational trauma and a space of beauty, survival, and fierce possibility.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eHewn from historical record and personal experience, these poems unearth the brutal legacy of slavery and the enduring persistence of systemic racism, tracing how violence echoes through land, body, and bloodline. Wabuke weaves history, science, and the environment into the personal—examining gender, motherhood, identity, and the Black body as sites of resistance and remembrance. \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eBlood on the Leaves\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003estands as a powerful testament to the Black experience, survival, memory, and the enduring power of love.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp style=\"margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: normal;\" class=\"MsoNormal\"\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';\"\u003e \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3 style=\"margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: normal;\" class=\"MsoNormal\"\u003e\n\u003cspan style=\"color: #000000; font-family: Times New Roman, serif;\"\u003ePraise for Blood on the Leaves\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: black;\"\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\n\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\"The title of Hope Wabuke’s most recent book,\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003e\u003ci\u003eBlood on the Leaves\u003c\/i\u003e, hearkens back to what may be considered Billie Holiday’s most political song.  And like Holiday, Wabuke’s voice here is relentless in its subtleties and distinctive in its vulnerabilities:  'What is normal is this: I want to love you,\/dearest, like love is still a normal\/\/breathing thing to believe in…'  This is a one of a kind collection of poetry, a chronicle of survival.” \u003cb\u003e—\u003cspan\u003eJericho Brown, Pulitzer Prize-winning poet and author of \u003ci\u003eThe Tradition\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e“In her second collection, Wabuke is unflinching, asking us as readers to join her in not looking away from the difficult and timely subjects the poems trace, including domestic violence, misogyny, racism, migration, and environmental collapse. The elegiac mode holds sway in this moving collection, in which personal and public histories converge in searing lyric-narrative poems. ‘In the silence\/the wind through the trees is the shaking of ghosts’ the poet declares, in one of the title poems and crown of sonnets that highlights Wabuke’s formal power. But perhaps more than any other measure, Wabuke’s truth-telling voice is the singular force throughout this collection, speaking into the ‘silence’ that threatens to undo us and confronting the ‘ghosts’ of history, memory, the land, and the body.”\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cb\u003e—Shara McCallum, author of\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003e\u003ci\u003eBehold\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e“\u003cem\u003eBlood on the Leaves\u003c\/em\u003e presents us with Hope Wabuke at the height of her poetic power, writing poems of deft architecture and deep wisdom, born out of a deeply examined life. Wabuke has long established herself as a poet whose vision of America is enhanced by her position as an immigrant whose poetic vocabulary is embarked on perfecting the language of this country’s imaginary.  In \u003cem\u003eBlood on the Leaves\u003c\/em\u003e, Wabuke writes with the authority and grace of a poet who dares to be vulnerable in her fierce commitment to truth-telling.  We need to pay keen attention to Hope Wabuke.” \u003cstrong\u003e—Kwame Dawes, author of \u003cem\u003eSturge Town\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3 class=\"MsoNormal\"\u003eExcerpt from \"Blood on the Leaves\"\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch4 class=\"MsoNormal\"\u003e\n\u003cb\u003eBlood on the Leaves\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr style=\"mso-special-character: line-break;\"\u003e\u003c!--[endif]--\u003e\n\u003c\/h4\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"MsoNormal\" style=\"margin-bottom: 0in;\"\u003eSometimes I think how impossibly\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"MsoNormal\" style=\"margin-bottom: 0in;\"\u003egreen it is here on the prairie\u003cbr\u003eand beautiful—grasses bursting vibrant and trees\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"MsoNormal\" style=\"margin-bottom: 0in;\"\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"MsoNormal\" style=\"margin-bottom: 0in;\"\u003elush limbed along paths, the branches of one entwined\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"MsoNormal\" style=\"margin-bottom: 0in;\"\u003ehigh above with the branches of another\u003cbr\u003ein line with another and the next, vaulting the whole\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"MsoNormal\" style=\"margin-bottom: 0in;\"\u003eworld into a cathedral of green\u003cbr style=\"mso-special-character: line-break;\"\u003e\u003c!--[endif]--\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"MsoNormal\" style=\"margin-bottom: 0in;\"\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"MsoNormal\" style=\"margin-bottom: 0in;\"\u003ethat nearly veils the wide expanse\u003cbr\u003eof blue only the sky above the plains\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"MsoNormal\" style=\"margin-bottom: 0in;\"\u003ecan fishbowl into forever.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"MsoNormal\" style=\"margin-bottom: 0in;\"\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"MsoNormal\" style=\"margin-bottom: 0in;\"\u003eI am not from this place. I arrived from somewhere\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"MsoNormal\" style=\"margin-bottom: 0in;\"\u003eelse a decade ago. But this greening,\u003cbr\u003elong enough to seem it was always, is not\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"MsoNormal\" style=\"margin-bottom: 0in;\"\u003efrom this place either, planted\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"MsoNormal\" style=\"margin-bottom: 0in;\"\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"MsoNormal\" style=\"margin-bottom: 0in;\"\u003eby the people who came here just before me and took\u003cbr\u003eby force what could not be thefted—plunging into reddened\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"MsoNormal\" style=\"margin-bottom: 0in;\"\u003eearth with iron still bloody\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"MsoNormal\" style=\"margin-bottom: 0in;\"\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"MsoNormal\" style=\"margin-bottom: 0in;\"\u003efrom a thing you cannot call war\u003cbr\u003ewhen the mission was to make the people who were\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"MsoNormal\" style=\"margin-bottom: 0in;\"\u003ehere before us both into the disappeared.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"MsoNormal\" style=\"text-indent: .5in; margin: 0in 0in 0in .5in;\"\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"MsoNormal\" style=\"text-indent: .5in; margin: 0in 0in 0in .5in;\"\u003eDo you know\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"MsoNormal\" style=\"margin-bottom: 0in;\"\u003ethat scent, so sweet, grass\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"MsoNormal\" style=\"margin-bottom: 0in;\"\u003egives when cut? It is not just\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"MsoNormal\" style=\"margin-bottom: 0in;\"\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"MsoNormal\" style=\"margin-bottom: 0in;\"\u003efor enjoying. It is a distress call, to all\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"MsoNormal\" style=\"margin-bottom: 0in;\"\u003egrowing things, that death is coming.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"MsoNormal\"\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp style=\"margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: normal;\" class=\"MsoNormal\"\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp style=\"margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: normal;\" class=\"MsoNormal\"\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp style=\"margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: normal;\" class=\"MsoNormal\"\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp style=\"margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: normal;\" class=\"MsoNormal\"\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: black;\"\u003ePublication date: November, 3 2026\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';\"\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';\"\u003e \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp style=\"margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: normal;\" class=\"MsoNormal\"\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: black;\"\u003ePaperback ISBN: \u003ca name=\"_Hlk218854512\"\u003e\u003c\/a\u003e9781968507183\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp style=\"margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: normal;\" class=\"MsoNormal\"\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: black;\"\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: black;\"\u003eEbook ISBN: 9781968507190\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';\"\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp style=\"margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: normal;\" class=\"MsoNormal\"\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: black;\"\u003eHardcover ISBN: 9781968507206\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp style=\"margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: normal;\" class=\"MsoNormal\"\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: black;\"\u003e\u003cspan\u003e© Boa Editions\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"BOA Editions, Ltd.","offers":[{"title":"Paperback","offer_id":48766244323557,"sku":null,"price":19.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"Paperback (Signed)","offer_id":48766244356325,"sku":null,"price":30.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"Hardcover","offer_id":48766244389093,"sku":null,"price":30.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0982\/0178\/files\/BloodOnTheLeaves_CVR_RGB_SM.jpg?v=1775757437"}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0982\/0178\/collections\/Hope_Wabuke_Bio_PIc_BW_Small_credit_self.jpg?v=1775756946","url":"https:\/\/www.boaeditions.org\/collections\/hope-wabuke.oembed","provider":"Boa Editions","version":"1.0","type":"link"}