Foreword by Javier Zamora
Afterword by Emtithal Mahmoud
With poems by:
ELIZABETH ACEVEDO | SAMIRA AHMED | KAVEH AKBAR | EAVAN BOLAND | CHEN CHEN | SAFIA ELHILLO | MARTÍN ESPADA | CARLOS ANDRÉS GÓMEZ | JOSEPH O. LEGASPI | ADA LIMÓN | EMTITHAL MAHMOUD | BAO PHI | ALBERTO RÍOS | ERIKA L. SÁNCHEZ | GARY SOTO | CHRYSANTHEMUM TRAN | OCEAN VUONG | JAVIER ZAMORA | SEE COMPLETE LIST HERE
With authenticity, integrity, and insight, this collection of poems addresses the many issues confronting first- and second- generation young adult immigrants and refugees, such as cultural and language differences, homesickness, social exclusion, human rights, racism, stereotyping, and questions of identity. Poems by Elizabeth Acevedo, Erika L. Sánchez, Samira Ahmed, Chen Chen, Ocean Vuong, Fatimah Asghar, Carlos Andrés Gómez, Bao Phi, Kaveh Akbar, Hala Alyan, and Ada Limón, among others, encourage readers to honor their roots as well as explore new paths, offering empathy and hope for those who are struggling to overcome discrimination. Many of the struggles immigrant and refugee teens face head-on are also experienced by young people everywhere as they contend with isolation, self-doubt, confusion, and emotional dislocation.
Ink Knows No Borders is the first book of its kind and features 64 poems and a foreword by poet Javier Zamora, who crossed the border, unaccompanied, at the age of nine, and an afterword by Emtithal Mahmoud, World Poetry Slam Champion and Honorary Goodwill Ambassador for UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency. Brief biographies of the poets are included, as well. It's a hopeful, beautiful, and meaningful book for any reader.
Edited by Alyssa Raymond and Patrice Vecchione
Check out our Ink Knows No Borders Teaching Guide here.
Poet, nonfiction writer and teacher, PATRICE VECCHIONE is the author of My Shouting, Shattered, Whispering Voice: A Guide to Writing Poetry & Speaking Your Truth. Vecchione is the editor several highly acclaimed anthologies for young adults, most recently, Ink Knows No Borders: Poems of the Immigrant and Refugee Experience, called a “vivid and vital collection” by The Washington Post. She's the author of Writing and the Spiritual Life and Step into Nature: Nurturing Imagination and Spirit in Everyday Life, and as well as two collections of poetry. For many years, Vecchione has taught poetry and creative writing to young people through her program, The Heart of the Word: Poetry and the Imagination. She is also a columnist for her local daily paper, The Monterey Herald. Patrice offers writing workshops for adults and children through her program The Heart of the Word.
Alyssa Raymond is a freelance editor of adult and YA fiction and nonfiction. She hails from Massachusetts and Colorado, where she taught writing and rhetoric at the University of Colorado at Boulder and was a veteran bookseller at her favorite independent bookstore, the Boulder Book Store.
