Patricia Smith’s poetry appeals to more than just your typical poetry reader. Blood Dazzler has sold over 10,000 copies.

These poems are about Chicago, Patricia's hometown—and the influence of Motown music.

Breaking free from her spoken-word reputation, this work is innovative in her use of traditional forms, including “Motown Crown”—a crown of sonnets, which will be included in Best American Poetry (2011).

Other poems from this collection have already been selected for publication in Poetry, Granta, and Tin House, among others.

Smith has been a finalist for the National Book Award (2008), a winner of the Paterson Poetry Prize, the National Poetry Series, and the Hurston/Wright Legacy Award.

Recognized as one of the world’s most formidable performers, Patricia reads her work at venues around the world.

A selection of Patricia’s poetry was produced as a one-woman play by Nobel Prize winner Derek Walcott and performed at both Boston University Playwrights Theater and the historic Trinidad Theater Workshop. Another play, based on Life According to Motown, was staged by Company One Theater in Hartford, Ct., and reviewed favorably in the New York Times.

Course adoption subjects: creative writing/poetry, African American history, American studies, African American literature.