Saeed Jones Livres

"'Elegy with grown folks' music' by Saeed Jones first appeared in Tin House #69."

Written from the crossroads of sex, race, and power in America, How We Fight for Our Lives is a stunning coming-of-age memoir.

Shot through with grief and charged with history, this new poetry collection from the award-winning author of Prelude to Bruise and How We Fight for Our Lives sings its way through the awe of living alongside everyday apocalypses. In these incisive, dynamic poems, Saeed Jones explores the public and private betrayals of living in a world poisoned by white supremacy. With wit and elegant craft, Jones strips away American artifice, revealing the intimate grief of a mourning son alongside the collective grief brought on by pandemic lockdowns, televised police murders, and the deaths of cultural icons like Cecily Tyson, Little Richard, and Toni Morrison. Drawing inspiration from Afropessimism and the legacies of Black artists and performers, Jones confronts the everyday perils of white supremacy with a finely tuned poetic ear, identifying moments that feel unremarkably routine even as they open chasms of hurt. As Jones and his speakers seek ways to love and survive through America's existential threats, Jones ushers his readers toward the realization that the end of the world is already here--and the apocalypse is a state of being.

Exploring themes of sexuality, race, and shifting identity, the author employs a unique blend of rootless cosmopolitanism, formal rigor, and the dynamic style of slam poetry. This approach enhances the depth of the narrative, inviting readers to engage with complex social issues through a fluid and innovative lens.