Synopses & Reviews
Powerhouse, world-renowned LGBTQ poet and spoken-word artist Staceyann Chin curates the first full-length collection of her poems.
Crossfire collects Staceyann Chin's empowering, feminist-LGBTQ-Caribbean, activist-driven poetry for the first time in a single book.
According to The New York Times, Chin is “sassy, rageful, and sometimes softly self-mocking.” The Advocate says that her poems, “combine hilarious one-liners with a refusal to conform” and note “Chin is out to confront more than just the straight world.”
Review
“I’ve never been as brave as Staceyann Chin...she, who stands on the far side of the curve of feminist power, love, and rage, inspires us all to inch our way just a bit more in her direction.” Rosanne Cash
Review
“...it is evident that Staceyann Chin has come into her raw, sexual, revolutionary, poetic power. These poems are jet fuel from the hot center of the body — from rage, from sorrow, from pure, unmitigated life-force.” Eve Ensler
Review
“Staceyann Chin’s Crossfire: A Litany for Survival is a remarkable collection from a dynamic and talented writer, whose urgent storytelling and commanding voice feel vital for our times.” Edwidge Danticat
About the Author
Poet, actor, and performing artist Staceyann Chin is the author of the critically acclaimed memoir The Other Side of Paradise, cowriter and original performer in the Tony Award–winning Russell Simmons Def Poetry Jam on Broadway, and author of the one-woman shows Hands Afire, Unspeakable Things, Border/Clash, and MotherStruck. She has appeared on the Oprah Winfrey Show and 60 Minutes, and her poetry been featured in the New York Times and the Washington Post. She proudly identifies as Caribbean, Black, Asian, lesbian, a woman, and a resident of New York City, as well as a Jamaican national.