Shoulda Been Jimi Savannah: Poems

**Winner of 2013 Wheatley Book Award in Poetry** **Finalist for 2013 William Carlos Williams Award** **Winner of 2014 Bobbitt National Prize for Poetry** "Patricia Smith is writing some of the best poetry in America today. Ms Smith's new book, *Shoulda Been Jimi Savannah*, is just beautiful—and like the America she embodies and represents—dangerously beautiful. *Shoulda Been Jimi Savannah* is a stunning and transcendent work of art, despite, and perhaps because of, its pain. This book shines." **—Sapphire** "One of the best poets around and has been for a long time." **—Terrance Hayes** "Smith's work is direct, colloquial, inclusive, adventuresome." **—Gwendolyn Brooks** In her newest collection, Patricia Smith explores the second wave of the Great Migration. Shifting from spoken word to free verse to traditional forms, she reveals "that soul beneath the vinyl." **Patricia Smith** is the author of five volumes of poetry, including *Blood Dazzler*, a finalist for the 2008 National Book Award, and *Teahouse of the Almighty*, a National Poetry Series selection. She lives in New Jersey.