There's a Revolution Outside, My Love

Letters from a Crisis

By: Tracy K. Smith, John Freeman

Narrated by: Robin Miles, Ryan Vincent Anderson, Anthony Rey Perez, Pej Vahdat, Kay Eluvian, Kyla Garcia, Kaleo Griffith, Greta Jung, Tanis Parenteau, Quincy Surasmith

This kaleidoscopic portrait of an unprecedented time brings together some of our most treasured writers today - Edwidge Danticat, Layli Long Soldier, Monica Youn, Julia Alvarez, Reginald Dwayne Betts, Keeanga-Yamahtta Taylor - to give voice to the unthinkable grief and hopeful possibilities born in an era of revolution and change.

“A maelstrom of grief, anger, fear and confusion, with glimmers of gratitude and hope: a comprehensive emotional document of a moment.” (New York Times Book Review)

Now is an extraordinary time. Across the country, people are losing their loved ones, their livelihoods, their homes, and even their own lives to COVID-19. Despite the pandemic, countless protests erupted this summer over the recurring loss of Black lives. Reverberations of shock and outrage remain with us all. There's a Revolution Outside, My Love captures and articulates all of these roiling sentiments unleashed by a profound national reckoning.

Drawing its title from a powerful letter to her son by Kirsten West Savali, the book fans out from there, offering a rich and intimate view of the change we underwent. Composed of searing letters, essays, poems, reflections, and screeds, There's a Revolution Outside, My Love highlights the work of some of our most powerful and insightful writers who hail from across a range of backgrounds and from almost all fifty states. Among them, these writers have brought home four Pulitzers, two National Book Awards, a fistful of Whitings, and numerous citations in best American poetry, short story, and essay compilations. They are noisy with beauty, and their pieces ring louder and clearer than ever before.

Galvanizing and lyrical, this is a deeply profound anthology of writing filled with pain and beauty, warmth and intimacy. A remarkable feat of empathy, There's a Revolution Outside, My Love offers solace in a time of swirling protest, change, and violence - reminding us of the human scale of the upheaval, and providing hope for a kinder future.

©2021 Tracy K. Smith (P)2021 Random House Audio

Critic reviews

“These testimonials from professors, poets, novelists and activists are centered on last summer’s protests against the police killings of Black people, but they tie connective threads between many countries and their crises.... Together this book is a maelstrom of grief, anger, fear and confusion, with glimmers of gratitude and hope: a comprehensive emotional document of a moment." (Sebastian Modak, The New York Times)

“Angry, rueful, and defiant, the impressive roster of award-winning writers and academics portrays a nation wracked by pain.... An eloquent and urgent collection.” (Kirkus, starred review)

"A potent and momentous in-the-moment response to an urgent and indelible time.” (Booklist)

Powerful Essay Collection

I love this powerful essay collection from 2020 when COVID ravaged the country and Black Lives Matter protests raged the streets in the aftermath of the murder of George Floyd. The book is a time capsule of that time and also predicts the circumstances we now find ourselves in. Excellent, thoughtful writers are among our bests. I was honored to see Tracy K. Smith at a book festival talking about this book which see gave me. I am glad I read it.