Night Watch

'One of the most important poets of his generation' Washington PostA richly evocative and moving collection about African American identity and history, this is an ode to home places and the dearly departed, and to what of them - of us - poetry can save. In bellowing declarations of suffering and whispered prayers of faith, Night Watch speaks to an inner history which is compelling and authentic and deeply American, rippling with timely and devastating truths about the insidious nature of the American nation. 'Keeping up with him is like trying to keep up with Bob Dylan or Prince in their primes' New York Times

Kevin Young is the director of Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture and poetry editor of the New Yorker. He was previously the director of the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture. He is the author of a number of books of poetry and prose, including Stones, shortlisted for the T.S. Eliot Prize, Jelly Roll: A Blues, a finalist for both the National Book Award and the Los Angeles Times Book Prize for Poetry; and Bunk, a New York Times Notable Book, longlisted for the National Book Award. He was inducted into the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 2016.