Haruko/Love Poems

Selected by Seán Hewitt as a Granta Book of the Year. In trailblazing poet, essayist, teacher and activist June Jordan's poems, love is a vision of revolutionary solidarity, crossing borders both emotional and literal with an outstretched hand. Haruko traces the faltering arc of a passionate love affair with another woman while Love Poems encompasses relationships with men and women, political resistance, the need for self-care in a demanding, uncaring world and apocalyptic visions of the eruption of Mount Vesuvius that destroyed Pompeii and Herculaneum. A contemporary of Alice Walker, Toni Morrison and Audre Lorde, June Jordan's spectacular poetry remains profoundly politically potent, lyrically inventive and breathtakingly romantic. First published in 1994, Haruko / Love Poems is a vitally important modern classic.

Master a profound, dual-natured exploration of intimacy and activism through the lens of one of the twentieth century's most formidable literary voices. Readers will navigate the complex intersections of private desire and public resistance, exploring how vulnerable queer romance, cross-cultural solidarity, and the radical reclamation of the self can serve as powerful tools against systemic oppression and historical devastation.

This breathtaking, emotionally raw volume delivers a masterclass in lyrical invention and political potency. It beautifully balances the delicate, heavy-hearted nuances of personal relationships with sweeping, urgent calls for social justice, offering an essential, timeless collection that reaffirms love as an act of courageous, revolutionary defiance.