Bicycles: Love Poems

In her legendary career, artist and activist Nikki
Giovanni has established herself as a writer who can entertain and challenge,
and a voice for social justice who can inform and inspire in times of
national crisis. Controversial, revolutionary, ethereal, or illuminating, her
poems about race, Black lives, violence, gender, and family move readers of
all ages and backgrounds.

With
BICYCLES, she’s collected poems that serve as a companion to her 1997 LOVE
POEMS. An instant classic, that book--romantic, bold, and erotic--expressed
notions of love in ways that were delightfully unexpected. In the years that
followed, Giovanni experienced losses both public and private. A mother’s
passing, a sister’s, too. A massacre on the campus at which she teaches. And
just when it seemed life was spinning out of control, Giovanni rediscovered
love--what she calls the antidote. Here romantic love--and all its
manifestations, the physical touch, the emotional pull, the hungry heart--is
distilled as never before by one of our most talented poets. In a time of
national crisis or personal crisis, this is a collection that will open minds
and change hearts as only the best art can.

In a career that has earned her accolades, honorary degrees, and awards from both fellow poets and everyday poetry lovers, Nikki Giovanni has established herself as a writer who can entertain and challenge, inform and inspire. Sometimes controversial, sometimes ethereal, but always beautiful, her poems move readers of all hues and generations.

With Bicycles, she's collected poems that serve as a companion to her 1997 Love Poems. An instant classic, that book—romantic, bold, and erotic—expressed notions of love in ways that were delightfully unexpected. In the years that followed, Giovanni experienced losses both public and private. A mother's passing, a sister's, too. A massacre on the campus at which she teaches. And just when it seemed life was spinning out of control, Giovanni redis-covered love—what she calls the antidote. Here romantic love—and all its manifestations, the physical touch, the emotional pull, the hungry heart—is distilled as never before by one of our most talented poets.

“Easily one of [Giovanni’s] most powerful offerings to date.” - Essence

“Bicycles is powered as much by Giovanni’s warmth and authenticity as by her words.” - Christian Science Monitor