Directed by Desire: The Collected Poems of June Jordan

About this book

Directed by Desire . . . is a powerful addition to the entire canon of American poetry.Booklist Now in paperback Directed by Desire is the definitive overview of June Jordans -poetry. Collecting the finest work from Jordans ten volumes as well as dozens of last poems that were never published in Jordans lifetime these more than six hundred pages overflow with intimate lyricism elegance fury meditative solos and dazzling vernacular riffs. As Adrienne Rich writes in her introduction June Jordan wanted her readers listeners students to feel their own latent powerof the word the deed of their own beauty and intrinsic value. From These Poems: These poems they are things that I do in the dark reaching for you whoever you are and are you ready? The cloth edition of Directed by Desire was selected as a Library Journal Poetry Book of the Year and received the Lambda Book Award for Lesbian Poetry. June Jordan taught at UC Berkeley for many years and founded Poetry for the People. Her twenty-eight books include poetry essays fiction and childrens books. She was a regular columnist for The Progressive and a prolific writer whose articles appeared in The Village Voice The New York Times Ms. Magazine and The Nation. After her death in 2002 a school in the San Francisco School District was renamed in her honor.