7 Books I'm Eyeing From The Saint Heron Library
Solange, girl you have done it again
“The Saint Heron Library is home to our archival collection of primarily rare, out of print, and 1st edition titles by Black & brown authors, poets, & artists.”
Solange
A few months ago Solange’s Saint Heron unveiled their digital library and archive preserving rare works by Black and Brown artists and authors. One of my favorite things about Solange is the way she makes space for Black interiority to breathe. This library is a continuation of that practice. It holds essays on Black radical thought, poetry collections about love, memory, and liberation, and works exploring everything from identity and spirituality to sexuality, migration, family, and joy.
This is the kind of intentional sharing I dream of. So of course I’ve been browsing and curating my own little wish list of what I want to read next.
Here are 7 books I’m waiting to check out:
An Ordinary Woman
Lucille Clifton reflects on her identity in her third collection of poetry.
A Daughter’s Geography
Ntozake Shange’s second book of poetry mapping the expanding horizons of the black imagination, feeling and memory.
Civil Wars
Collection of essays, speeches, and letters as a meditation on poetry and politics and a discussion of language and power.
Aspects of a Dancer
The story of a brilliant American Dancer and the Troupe of performing artists with whom her name became synonymous, the Alvin Ailey, American Dance Theater.
My One Good Nerve
A collection of short stories, poems and reflections, ranging in subject matter from racism to love.
Earthquakes and Sun Rise Missions
Collection of works by author, educator, and poet Haki R Mahubuti.
No Matter Where You Travel You Still Black
“No Matter Where You Travel, You Still Be Black” is the title of a 1979 poetry collection by Houston A. Baker Jr., a leading literary critic and educator. The work explores how race and the realities of Black identity remain constant, no matter the setting. It underscores the lasting influence of Black history, culture, and struggle on personal perspective and experience, even when one moves across different places.
If you’re curious, here’s how the library works:
It’s free of charge and runs on an honor-based borrowing system
You register online to borrow one book at a time. First come, first served.
The book gets shipped straight to your door, return postage included.
You’ve got 45 days to sit with it, and then you send it back so someone else can step into that world.