Fight Evil With Poetry - Anthology Volume One

by Micah Bournes (Editor), Chris Cambell (Editor)

A collection of poetry from a community of 30 diverse authors whose voices need to be heard. They have united under the banner of FIGHT EVIL WITH POETRY, overlooking their differences, that their socially charged verse would win hearts and minds to the side of truth, justice, and love.

Genres: Poetry

144 pages, Paperback

Published October 1, 2018

Reviews

[Patti Hinko · Rating 5 out of 5]

Pros: The poems were moving and powerful. There were many that I read multiple times to fully feel their power. Some were from perspectives I will never understand because I'm a straight white woman, but the poems made me empathize with their struggle and be reminded how powerful words can be.
Cons: I wish there a little blurb somewhere about each author. I would have loved to know just a little more especially with a few where, after reading, I had to Google the author to fully understand who they are and the importance of their poetry. Although knowing about the author isn't needed to understand the poems, it would be nice since these poems are very personal to the poet.
Would I Recommend: Yes. Although, if you're experiencing an anthology of poetry for the first time, some of the poems may be frustrating if you don't have practice reading poetry. This shouldn't be a deterrent, just something to be aware of before reading.

[Terry · Rating 3 out of 5]

A solid collection of spoken-word-inflected verse. All are accessible. Some I can readily see using in a high school class - "Manna" by Micha Bournes, "Fake News" by Beth May, "Storage" by Anne McCaslin and "Why is the City of Flint Michigan Allowed to Waste Money" by Katelyn Durst. These are solid examples of doing interesting things in a compact space that read as more 'stage' than 'page' poems. Others straddle the lines of school appropriate - real topic, hard stories like Chris Cambell's "No River Returns to its Source, Yet All Rivers have a Beginning." And some are just adult in language, in topic, in theme, such that their presence in a school might present problems for pearl-clutchers.

[Danielle Palmer · Rating 4 out of 5]

This slim volume packs a punch. These are raw poems on a wide range of social justice issues. They help you crawl inside someone else’s experiences for a brief flash of time.

[Katie · Rating 3 out of 5]

I had heard about this book of poetry from summer PD. I liked the poems and the contemporary topics and the way they are presented certainly made me think. I don't know if I had different expectations or what when I was reading it, but I'm glad the library ordered it and gave me a chance to peruse it. There are certainly going to be times and conversations with students in which I'd recommend this book. I did enjoy the editor's live recital of poetry that I saw this summer on his website. Overall, we should fight evil with all we got, and poetry is one of those ways.

[Lauren · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a book that public schools should make mandatory! Everyone should ready this anthology. I cried along with each poem. The book demonstrates the very real struggle and problems of many minority communities in this country. Their voices are so eloquently expressed with a power message that EVERYONE needs to hear.

[behsforensics]

Cutting is for The Chambers of a Gun if the
Bullet Does Not Exist
By Zanne Langlois and Natasha Hooper

Another cutting is for Fight Evil with Poetry
with poems by Dick Westheimer
and Yoram Symons

[Nikolai Garcia · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm not usually into spoken word, but there's some good stuff in here,