Teahouse of the Almighty
Poems by Patricia Smith
Reviews

National Poetry Series winner

Publishers Weekly (starred review):
"Smith appears to be that rarest of creatures, a charismatic slam and performance poet whose artistry truly survives on the printed page. . . . This National Poetry Series-winning volume marks [her] triumphal return." 

Library Journal:
"Blending feather-wisp feelings with knife-sharp ghetto talk, [Smith's] poems mightily fuse Walt Whitman's ‘barbaric yawp,' with the blues." 

Elizabeth Alexander:
"These poems are so fierce and tender, so unflinching, so loud and exquisite, so carefully crafted, so important, so right-on. They can make you gasp, rage, weep, belly-laugh, throw your arms open to them and the worlds they contain, push away or punch at the wrongs they chronicle. They bear such terrible beauty. Brava to Miss Patricia Smith, who pulls poems from the center of the earth." 

Marvin Bell:
"What power. Smith's poetry is all poetry. And visceral. Her poems get under the skin of their subjects. Their passion and empathy, their real worldliness, are blockbuster." 

Kwame Dawes:
"Not many poets will make you laugh out loud, grow uneasily warm with the recognition of self, sit riveted by the sheer shock of contending with human suffering, and feel as if you are alone with her as she tells her stories. But not many poets are Patricia Smith and not many books are as delightful and moving as her splendid Teahouse of the Almighty. Her secret is an absolute comfort in her own voice—her poems arrive with assurance and force." 

Stephen Dobyns:
"Patricia Smith is a powerful poet whose work gets stronger with each book. She will knock your socks off."

Thomas Lux:
"Patricia Smith is a buzz saw of a poet—she has more poetry in any one of her poems than most poets have in a whole book! Her urgent, unquiet voice is necessary."

Edward Sanders, National Poetry Series judge:
"Teahouse of the Almighty is searing, honest, well-crafted, and full of the real world transformed by Patricia Smith's fine ear for nuance and the shaking of the soul's duties. I was weeping for the beauty of poetry when I reached the end of the final poem."