The poems in this collection were a bit challenging, but I enjoyed the poems regardless.Thank you to the publisher for granting me an ARC.

In her new collection of poems Here is the Sweet Hand, francine harris explores themes of feminty, Blackness, racism, history, loneliness, creativity, etc. The poems are both powerful and lyrical, but they are also sometimes experiemental or so referential that some readers may resist the work it takes to absorb their power.

harris has written a creative and powerful collection of poems. This collection is an important addition to all library poetry collections (and personal poetry collections, too).

Here Is the Sweet Hand by Francine J. Harris felt way over my head and I’m actually totally fine with that. As a novice poetry fan, I found the writing style to be extremely intriguing and thought provoking, and I definitely plan on continuing to read more of her work. ⁣
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Thank you to @netgalley and @fsgbooks for the advance copy of this book.

*ARC was provided by Farrar, Straus and Giroux through NetGalley.

I genuinely did not understand this, and I wish I did. There was maybe one or two poems that I got, but the rest were so difficult for me to follow and interpret. I hope other readers get more out of this than I did.

Thank you to FSG ad NetGalley for the Advanced Reader's Copy!

Available August 4th 2020

I was outside, on a rock in the middle of a babbling brook and reading francine j harris's divine collection "Here is the Sweet Hand". I can't think of a more perfect place for these poems, which felt like peeks of sunlight through the dappled trees. Like the small ant peeking over my zippered lunchbox, harris's poems see the world from a whole new perspective. Echoing with warmth, intelligence and unfrettered black magic, this is a collection that hums and sings through the veins like a new day. Her range goes all the way from discussing opera to rapping over Ty Dolla $ign's signature "Or Nah". We see the immense joy and tears that make the modern black femme experience. "Here is the Sweet Hand" is a collection to return to again and again, seeking and seeing in different lights.

francine j. harris gives us powerful words, lyrical intensity, and a vision of identity packed in verse that demands to be read. I enjoyed this collection as a reader who loves poetry, and I would love to share its pages with others as an example of the work that can done in literary form.