{"title":"Crystal Simone Smith","description":null,"products":[{"product_id":"runagate-book-crystal-simone-smith-9781478028581","title":"Runagate","description":"Crystal Simone Smith’s new poetry collection, Runagate, reimagines the experiences of enslaved and formerly enslaved persons in a stark and chilling response to the archives of chattel slavery: bills of sale, interviews, narratives, and fugitive runaway ads. Embodying the aesthetics and Japanese poetic forms haiku and tanka, her poems bear witness to the brutal and horrifying treatment of enslaved people and contrast their humanity with the inhumanity of their enslavers. In these poems, fugitive persons evade slave patrol hounds by climbing magnolia trees, use the cover of night and the detritus of a shipwreck to swim to freedom, and find temporary refuge in a cabin where a woman offers bread and water. Throughout, Smith poignantly envisions their flights to freedom-passages that were fueled by love, hope, and impossible dreams. She unceasingly gives voice to those who found courage in both bondage and freedom. In Runagate, the enslaved regain their stories and return to the sensory world.","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"- \/ - \/ -","offer_id":51628841402641,"sku":"","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"US \/ NEW \/ INGRAM","offer_id":51628841599249,"sku":"NIN9781478028581","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"GB \/ NEW \/ GARDNERS","offer_id":51628841730321,"sku":"NGR9781478028581","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/1478028580.jpg?v=1750858955"},{"product_id":"runagate-book-crystal-simone-smith-9781478031819","title":"Runagate","description":"Crystal Simone Smith’s new poetry collection, Runagate, reimagines the experiences of enslaved and formerly enslaved persons in a stark and chilling response to the archives of chattel slavery: bills of sale, interviews, narratives, and fugitive runaway ads. Embodying the aesthetics and Japanese poetic forms haiku and tanka, her poems bear witness to the brutal and horrifying treatment of enslaved people and contrast their humanity with the inhumanity of their enslavers. In these poems, fugitive persons evade slave patrol hounds by climbing magnolia trees, use the cover of night and the detritus of a shipwreck to swim to freedom, and find temporary refuge in a cabin where a woman offers bread and water. Throughout, Smith poignantly envisions their flights to freedom-passages that were fueled by love, hope, and impossible dreams. She unceasingly gives voice to those who found courage in both bondage and freedom. In Runagate, the enslaved regain their stories and return to the sensory world.","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"- \/ - \/ -","offer_id":51632316580113,"sku":"","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"GB \/ NEW \/ GARDNERS","offer_id":51632316940561,"sku":"NGR9781478031819","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"US \/ NEW \/ INGRAM","offer_id":51632317038865,"sku":"NIN9781478031819","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/1478031816.jpg?v=1751445052"},{"product_id":"common-sense-1776-addressed-to-today-s-citizens-of-america-book-crystal-simone-smith-9780807023389","title":"Common Sense (1776), Addressed to Today's Citizens of America","description":"\u003cb\u003eFrom an award-winning poet, a rousing act of erasure poetry that compels us to reexamine one of America's most significant founding texts\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e Crystal Simone Smith's powerful work exposes the uncomfortable truth about America's founding text. While \u003ci\u003eCommon Sense\u003c\/i\u003e is celebrated as a cornerstone of American democracy, Thomas Paine's arguments for \"total freedom and equality\" were written exclusively for white men-completely excluding women and people of color from his vision of liberation.\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e Through innovative erasure poetry, Smith transforms this foundational document into a mirror reflecting both our nation's incomplete promises and today's ongoing struggle for true equality. By making Paine's original text translucent and highlighting specific words, she reveals new meanings that speak to the experiences of ALL Americans-those who were silenced in 1776 and those still fighting for recognition today.\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e This creative reinterpretation arrives at a crucial moment-just as America approaches its 250th anniversary in 2026. Smith's previous work, \u003ci\u003eDark Testament\u003c\/i\u003e, has been recognized for its ability to illuminate hidden histories and challenge dominant narratives.\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e \u003cb\u003eThis work-\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e Transforms a crucial historical document into living, breathing poetry\u003cbr\u003e Exposes the contradictions in America's founding mythology\u003cbr\u003e Encourages critical thinking about citizenship and democracy\u003cbr\u003e Offers a fresh lens for understanding civil rights struggles\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e The book's pamphlet design echoes Paine's original format while the visual erasure technique creates a haunting reminder of whose voices were erased from our nation's story.","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"GB \/ NEW \/ GARDNERS","offer_id":52694669394193,"sku":"NGR9780807023389","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"US \/ NEW \/ INGRAM","offer_id":53237996716305,"sku":"NIN9780807023389","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/9780807023389.jpg?v=1769682166"},{"product_id":"ghost-woman-book-crystal-simone-smith-9781478039051","title":"Ghost Woman","description":"In \u003ci\u003eGhost Woman\u003c\/i\u003e, Crystal Simone Smith explores the long and deep connections between nature, personhood, ancestry, and trauma through haiku and haibun. Separated into five sections, the poems emphasize the way social bonds and landscapes are reflected in and through the environment. Smith brings her experiences with race, motherhood, and poetry into conversation with the five elements, Wind (\u003ci\u003eFu\u003c\/i\u003e), Earth (\u003ci\u003eChi\u003c\/i\u003e), Water (\u003ci\u003eSui\u003c\/i\u003e), Fire (\u003ci\u003eKa\u003c\/i\u003e), and Void (\u003ci\u003eKu\u003c\/i\u003e) to take readers through an introspective haiku journey, an exploration of the nature of the self as well as the nature of the broader world. Balancing shattering grief with ordinary moments of love and trauma with survival, \u003ci\u003eGhost Woman\u003c\/i\u003e weaves a narrative verse of single motherhood, bearing witness, and carrying your history with you. The poems in \u003ci\u003eGhost Woman\u003c\/i\u003e invite the reader to be with nature and themselves more intentionally.","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"- \/ - \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":53077421555985,"sku":null,"price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"GB \/ NEW \/ GARDNERS","offer_id":53077421621521,"sku":"NGR9781478039051","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}]},{"product_id":"ghost-woman-book-crystal-simone-smith-9781478034087","title":"Ghost Woman","description":"In \u003ci\u003eGhost Woman\u003c\/i\u003e, Crystal Simone Smith explores the long and deep connections between nature, personhood, ancestry, and trauma through haiku and haibun. Separated into five sections, the poems emphasize the way social bonds and landscapes are reflected in and through the environment. Smith brings her experiences with race, motherhood, and poetry into conversation with the five elements, Wind (\u003ci\u003eFu\u003c\/i\u003e), Earth (\u003ci\u003eChi\u003c\/i\u003e), Water (\u003ci\u003eSui\u003c\/i\u003e), Fire (\u003ci\u003eKa\u003c\/i\u003e), and Void (\u003ci\u003eKu\u003c\/i\u003e) to take readers through an introspective haiku journey, an exploration of the nature of the self as well as the nature of the broader world. Balancing shattering grief with ordinary moments of love and trauma with survival, \u003ci\u003eGhost Woman\u003c\/i\u003e weaves a narrative verse of single motherhood, bearing witness, and carrying your history with you. The poems in \u003ci\u003eGhost Woman\u003c\/i\u003e invite the reader to be with nature and themselves more intentionally.","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"- \/ - \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":53077422571793,"sku":null,"price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"GB \/ NEW \/ GARDNERS","offer_id":53077422866705,"sku":"NGR9781478034087","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}]}],"url":"https:\/\/www.worldofbooks.com\/en-au\/collections\/author-books-by-crystal-simone-smith.oembed","provider":"World of Books ","version":"1.0","type":"link"}