Magic Enuff is a stunning debut poetry collection by Tara M. Stringfellow that doesn’t just speak—it summons. These are poems for Black girls and Black women who carry wounds like wisdom, who inherited beauty and burden in the same breath, and who know that surviving in this world is a kind of spellwork.

Stringfellow, who gave us the lyrical powerhouse Memphis, returns with poetry that is sharp as a blade and soft as a lullaby. This collection is about lineage, body memory, Southern girlhood, grief, Black motherhood, rage, and of course—magic. But not the kind of magic you buy in crystals and candles. This is ancestral, earned, simmering-under-the-skin kind of magic. The kind you whisper to yourself when no one else is looking.

What Worked:

🔹 Voice Like Thunder and Honey
Stringfellow’s voice is singular—equal parts gospel, griot, and girl-in-her-room-scribbling-through-the-pain. There are echoes of Lucille Clifton, Warsan Shire, and Nikki Giovanni, but this work feels entirely her own. The poems hit like diary entries carved into a tree—intimate, sacred, and meant to last.

🔹 Black Southern Feminism on Full Display
From references to Southern kitchens and grandmothers who “prayed in four directions” to declarations of self-love in the face of generational violence, Magic Enuff is drenched in the textures of the Black South. You can taste the cornbread and grief. You can feel the humidity of memory pressing against the page.

🔹 Themes of Body, Power, and Reclamation
These poems talk back to trauma. They name abusers. They speak of sexual violence, self-hate, colonial legacies, and love—love that is sometimes soft, sometimes feral. The body isn’t metaphorical here. It is sacred, suffering, and divine.

🔹 Readability Meets Depth
Even at their most lyrical, these poems are understandable. You don’t need a degree to feel the ache or recognize the beauty. You just need to be open. And preferably, be—or know and love—a Black girl who’s ever been told to shrink.

What Could Be Stronger:

🔸 It’s Short, and You’ll Want More
Clocking in at under 100 pages, it’s a slim volume—and that’s honestly the only “critique.” Some readers may find themselves craving just a few more spells, a few more secrets. But maybe that’s the magic of it—it leaves you wanting, reaching, conjuring your own.

Big Themes & Takeaways:

✨ Black Womanhood Is a Ritual: Whether in mourning or loving, braiding or burying, these poems remind us that every act of Black survival is ceremonial.

✨ The Body Remembers, and Writes Itself: The body—fat, sexualized, grieving, ecstatic—is everywhere in this book. It’s not theory. It’s testimony.

✨ Generational Grief and Healing: There’s a deep thread of mothers, daughters, aunties, ghosts—passing down both pain and power. These poems honor what we inherit, even when it almost breaks us.

Favorite Lines (No spoilers, just chills):

“I was always my own spell.”

“A Black girl survives and the world calls it a miracle. I call it Tuesday.”

“Every woman in my family was a poem no one dared read out loud—until me.”

“I wrote my way out of the mouth of the wolf. I came back with teeth.”

Final Thoughts:
Magic Enuff is exactly what it claims to be—enough. Enough to break your heart. Enough to stitch it back. Enough to make you remember what you’ve tried to forget. Tara M. Stringfellow has given us a collection that will live on nightstands, be dog-eared, be underlined, be returned to when the world gets heavy. It is a balm, a mirror, a battle cry.

For Black women and girls who’ve ever been told they’re too much or not enough, this book is your reminder: you’re magic enuff. You’ve always been.

Rating: 5/5
Content Warnings: Sexual violence, grief, domestic trauma, body image, religious references
Best For: Black women, survivors, lovers of lyrical poetry, fans of Bless the Daughter Raised by a Voice in Her Head, people who believe poems can be spells

For Ms. magazine, I write a column each year for Poetry Month in April in which I include my favorite collections of the last year. Magic Enuff was one of those. Because it's a longer list, I don't annotate each one, but instead choose three words I feel get to the heart of the collection. For this one, those words are "Lavender, cinnamon, ferocious."

I adored Memphis, so I was really excited to read this collection by Tara M. Stringfellow. It did not disappoint! This is beautiful poetry, full of reflections and odes to Womanhood and all of its complexity. I will continue to come back to these words for a long time to come.

A mesmerizing, lyrical novel that weaves together themes of family, love, and identity. With vivid prose and richly imagined world, Stringfellow transports readers to a mystical realm where magic and reality blur. Her characters are multidimensional and relatable, their struggles and triumphs deeply human. This stunning debut is a testament to Stringfellow's masterful storytelling and her ability to craft a narrative that is both fantastical and deeply rooted in the complexities of the human experience.

this is a book of poems written about the authors life.. Some, are written to her family. THey were deep, and informational.


I enjoyed this book.

I was interested in reading Magic Enuff after learning the author of Memphis first love is poetry. I was not disappointed! A few are heart wrenching discussions of police brutality on members of my community, but balanced with humor such as in “I Dreamt The KKK Were In My Living Room”. I grew to know and understand the women in Stringfellows’ family… they are definitely Magic Enuff.

Favorites: “To Kayne” “Poem at 35” “Sundays” “For My Ex”

A beautifully written collection of poems. Definitely worth reading during this terrible political climate.

Special thanks to the author & @thedialpress for my gifted e-ARC‼️

This was such an amazing collection of poetry that proves only few words are needed to deliver a meaningful message. Magic Enuff delves into the magic and power of Black womanhood, physical abuse from a loved one, celebrating Black boy joy, Black life and how society treats us, and the horrific situations witnessed within the Black community.

There are poems many will find relatable and others that will pull you in because you know someone with a shared experience. A lot of the poems are short and sweet and I found myself rereading them to gain a deeper understanding of the message the author was trying to convey. As the book’s title suggests, we may go through trials, experience hardships, broken relationships, or even continued acts of oppression but at the end of it all we are still magic enuff. “A͟ B͟l͟a͟c͟k͟ w͟o͟m͟a͟n͟ i͟s͟ n͟o͟ p͟i͟c͟n͟i͟c͟.”

Favorite Poems:
•Only Read From Exodus (for Tyre Nichols)
•This Woman
•Black Boys
•Conversations I Never Had With My Father
•The Whole Sick Mess
•My Ex-Husband
•I DREAMT THE KKK WAS IN MY LIVING ROOM
•A Sonnet
•Route to Freedom

Overall, I loved this and the fact she’s from my city and the book makes references to it. I’m happy to have a copy on my shelf and definitely recommend if you’re into poetry.

Magical collection of poetry by the author of Memphis, Tar M. Stringfellow! Some people use the English language in such a beautiful way that it moves the soul. Stringellow does just that with her poems about her history and the history of her people. The hurt of generational trauma is felt within her works. She also touches on her faith in ways that resonate. I do not read a lot of poetry, but a collection like the inspires me to take a chance.

I adored this book's portrayal of black southern womanhood, I cannot wait to read more from this author and explore more of her prose!

Tara M. Stringfellow’s poetry collection is a powerful exploration of Black womanhood, blending strength, vulnerability, and the complexities of love, loyalty, and anger. Bold, honest, and deeply emotional, this collection is a reminder of the magic within us. I definitely plan on getting a physical copy for my collection!

This poetry book celebrates Black Southern womanhood, exploring the magic that exists within the relationships between women, all through the lens of Black femininity. It’s an accessible and incredibly beautiful collection, stunningly and sometimes sharply written, and deeply touching.

Having read and enjoyed Tara Stringfellow’s novel, Memphis, I was happy to have the opportunity to read an ARC of Magic Enuff, her book of poetry. Here she presents the many faces of Black womanhood in American society, with the personal hopes and fears, the losses and loves, the celebrations and mourning. And also the anger barely held in check. These poems take place in kitchens, in bedrooms, at parties, on streets at night, everywhere a Black woman might be. There are also others written in response to events that have been happening too regularly over recent years, events you will recognize.

While I admittedly cannot fully relate to her experiences since I am a white woman, Stringfellow has given me such a good map to follow, such descriptive language that allows me insight into her life. For that I thank her. I hope to read more from her as novelist and poet.

After her poetry, Stringfellow provides an excellent summary of her background and some of her motivation to create. It’s truly inspiring and not to be missed.

Thanks to Random House and NetGalley for access to an early copy of this book. This review is my own

This was a great book of short stories. This is the first book I have read by this author and will not be the last. I read it in one sitting. I would definitely recommend this book.

I don't read a lot of poetry, but I picked up Magic Enuff because I enjoyed Stringfellow's novel Memphis. Stringfellow's poetry is beautiful, emotional, and powerful, though I didn't always understand the meaning. The acknowledgements had a lot of context and meaning that I appreciated. I'll keep reading whatever Stringfellow puts out.

Magic Enuff is a raw, wrenching collection of poetry. The beautiful cover and the titular reference to magic left me expecting more Black joy than trauma, but that is not the case. This is a well done collection of poetry. Just don't go in expecting light, because most of the poems are instead very heavy and dark. So much trauma. So many content warnings. Worth it if you're in a headspace to handle it, though. I hope writing these poems helped bring more healing into Tara Stringfellow's life. and gosh, that cover really is gorgeous!

Thank you to Random House and #Netgally for an advanced digital copy of #MagicEnuff

This collection of poems was a moving exhibit of Black, Southern family dynamics. From the joyous celebrations to the transformative experiences from childhood to adulthood and womanhood, these poems are perfect for someone interested in dipping their toe into the history of someone else's family.

Tara M. Stringfellow impressed me with her intentional imagery that wrapped these memories and reflection of womanhood through female family dynamics. It is a small, but mighty read.

Stringfellow has a way with writing that is just so sensual, lyrical, emotional. I was really happy with this collection of poems. For the longest time Essay and poetry were my least read forms. I always felt like I needed longer to connect, love, feel saturated by a story. Oh my I was so wrong. There this collection was raw with so much emotion. I think I often forget how Poetry can really draw you in.

Thank you Tara for this collection. You inspire me to be more emotive with my words- as an aspiring writer- this is so profound.

*Magic Enuff* by Tara Stringfellow is a powerful collection of poems that delves into both political and personal topics. Each poem is filled with the raw emotion and deep feelings of someone who has lived through the experiences they describe.

Stringfellow's writing captures the complexities of the human experience, intertwining the personal with the political in a way that feels both intimate and expansive. The intensity and authenticity of the emotions conveyed make this collection a compelling read, providing a profound insight into the life and perspectives of the poet.

Beautifully written but ultimately, I don't think I was the target audience to fully appreciate it. I enjoyed Memphis by the author and I saw many of the same themes in this book of poetry. I think the intended audience would really enjoy this.