califia’s daughter
“All the dimensions of devorah major’s life and (yours) are here — from the ‘beginning before the beginning,’ galactic particles to the bebopness of our lives. She speaks of being, of becoming, of totality. Is it a journal, an investigation, the life philosophy of a great poet woman? Is it closer to love and color and everythingness beyond measure — intimacy, Big Mind and all-embracing love howling from the brave-bold island of Califia? Can we hold on? Or are we drifting? In this work, devorah charts the infinite music inside of us all. It is so good to read and in-vision devorah’s journeys. After more than four decades of knowing devorah — I bow to her tender, iridescent greatness.”
–Juan Felipe Herrera, U.S. Poet Laureate (2015-2017)
“With open arms” is a ceremony and a lament of love. With an open heart and open arms (…) These poems are direct and come from the body and soul to open our hearts to the awareness of racism that separates us as human beings and the violence that dehumanizes us. (Genny Lim). The first Italian book of a queen of African American poetry.Published by Multimedia Edizione in 2019. Available through casadellapoesie.com In Italian and English
This collection of poetry begins with the poet’s inaugural address as Laureate of San Francisco, a sparkling essay that shows how poetry can please and empower. Strong, introspective and caring, major’s poems capture the challenge and joy of being an artist, as they survey the political and social landscapes of one of America’s favorite cities.
“A visionary of hope, with a heart big enough to embrace every neighborhood, street and alley in this magical and -poetical city. Here is a poet who shoots straight as Cupid’s arrow. Zing! Right to the heart.”-Alejandro Murguia
City Lights Bookstore
I wrote the introduction to this superb volume of poetry: “The Collected Poems of Bob Kaufman is the most comprehensive selection of his verse to date, a volume that contains a lot of previously uncollected work. . . . this book makes a case for him as a perceptive and eccentric American original, a man who seems to have fallen out of the sky like a meteor.”––The New York Times
“The body of work is small but voluminous in intensity, spirit and soul, with a lineage that runs from Charles Baudelaire to Charles Mingus. Kaufman—with his commitment to the art, his surreal eye on the urban experience and beyond it, and his jazz timing—brings San Francisco to life.”––San Francisco Chronicle
“Twentieth-century American poetry cannot be fully comprehended without Bob Kaufman. City Lights and the editors do a grand service to literature by publishing Kaufman’s poetry in one collection. . . . This is a necessary gift for poets and poetry readers.”––Booklist
“Four sections of this long-awaited volume: ‘spirit’, ‘other selves’, ‘fragile’, ‘whole’ reveal a writer and life experiencer at the height of her poetic powers. Whenever I become too self-satisfied in intellectual games, I find my heart upended by these impassioned verses of humanity and what it means to be fully alive and present. From ‘nommo-how we come to speak’ to ‘war memories’, this former San Francisco Poet Laureate and worldly cosmonaut handles politics, war, and love in equal measure as the best poets of the people do. Pablo Neruda. Bob Kaufman, June Jordan. Wanda Coleman. Ears to the ground and eyes to the sky.”—Giovanni Singleton
“In and then we became, devorah major steps out of the way and allows creation to craft creation. The structures and paints of her descriptions have incredible range of effect: the ascension into the first history a free people teach, the short story perceived through possession, the melodic start-stop motion of a debilitated life, the flash of your torturer’s dream; all part of a collaged panoramic of spirit and flesh. She is at home in all dimensions of her subject. The voices of this work walk straight toward you holding out moments of violence, lament, beauty, and invincibility for you to embrace, offering a face to become your own.”––Tongo Eisen-Martin, author of Someone’s Dead Already
“devorah major remains one of our premier storytellers. She wraps myths and headlines, family lore and visions in language that is both delicate and tough, enticing us to dive in even though the poem she serves up may have dangerously sharp edges. Her poems eagerly call forth the African deities who give her voice as she wrestles with the mysteries of this plane from why a woman may want to be a soldier to how we learn to love. These poems are like prayers to which you return each night.”––Jewelle Gomez, author of The Gilda Stories and Name Poems
My second published novel. Available at online vendors.
An Open Weave, my first novel is harder to get there but it is available in hard cover and paperback.