“A dazzling exploration of a life caught between different cultures.”
—The Guardian
Financial Times and Library Journal Best Book of the Year
A Chautauqua Literary and Scientific Circle selection
Highly Commended by the Forward Prizes for Poetry
Poetry Book Society’s Wild Card choice
“She razes all that would constrict her and forges new possibilities.”
—Oprah Daily
“Written with puckish dexterity and mutating metaphors.”
—Npr’s Poetry Review
“Those not as familiar with Yemeni history or the Arabic language will assuredly be inspired to learn more.”
—Library Journal Starred Review
“A daring debut that both speaks to and transcends the times.”
—BookPage
“Verse that feels precise, legitimate, dreamlike and imaginary.”
—Books Digest
awards and Recognition:
Longlisted for the National Book Award
Longlisted for the Pen/Voelcker Award
Nominated for the NAACP Image Award
Finalist for the Kate Tufts Discovery Award
Finalist for the John Pollard International Poetry Prize
Finalist for the Michael Murphy Memorial Prize
Winner of the inaugural Maya Angelou Book Award
Winner of the Brooklyn Public Library Literary Prize
Winner of the George Ellenbogen Poetry Award
Winner of the Walt Whitman Award from the Academy of American poets
Excerpts:
Almontaser’s work has been published for the Pushcart Prize, Best of the Net, Best New Poets, and Best Small Fictions. Her poems can be found in The Nation, Poets.org, Electric Lit, and elsewhere.
advanced praise:
“Ultimately, these poems ask how to belong to others without losing oneself, how to be faithful to oneself without forsaking others.”
— Harryette Mullen, author of Urban Tumbleweed: Notes from a Tanka Diary
“These poems know it's so hard to be all we are, but they rise to every occasion.”
— Naomi Shihab Nye, author of The Tiny Journalist
“That’s the miracle of this collection—it is so fully the poet’s own singular and unprecedented voice making a singular unprecedented sound, and it's beholden to nobody.
— Kaveh Akbar, author of Pilgrim Bell and Calling a Wolf a Wolf
“Her language is mischievous, curious, rich with refusals and tenderness. The Wild Fox of Yemen is an intoxicating debut.”
— Eduardo C. Corral, author of Guillotine and Slow Lightening
Selected interviews and reviews:
Library Journal Starred Review
North Carolina Writers’ Network
Poets & Writers: Debut Poets Series