The poetry of Nikki Giovanni has spurred movements, turned hearts and informed generations. She’s been hailed as a firebrand, a radical, a courageous activist who has spoken out on the sensitive issues that touch our national consciousness, including race and gender, social justice, protest, violence in the home and in the streets, and why black lives matter. One of America’s most celebrated poets looks inward in this powerful collection, a rumination on her life and the people who have shaped her. As energetic and relevant as ever, Nikki now offers us an intimate, affecting, and illuminating look at her personal history and the mysteries of her own heart. In  A Good Cry,  she takes us into her confidence, describing the joy and peril of aging and recalling the violence that permeated her parents’ marriage and her early life. She pays homage to the people who have given her life meaning and joy: her grandparents, who took her in and saved her life; the poets and thinkers who have influenced her; and the students who have surrounded her. Nikki also celebrates her good friend, Maya Angelou, and the many years of friendship, poetry, and kitchen-table laughter they shared before Angelou’s death in 2014. "If there was a need for poetry that galvanized and inspired, there was also a demand for poetry that comforted and unified — and Ms. Giovanni provided on both counts." —  The Washington Post “Giovanni remains an architect of life observations. . . . The world is a richer place for her three-decade body of work.” - Miami Herald “The work of Nikki Giovanni has been as evolutionary as it has been revolutionary. One of the finest poets of our time. . . Her work still resonates.” - Ebony Praise for Nikki Giovanni: “Nikki Giovanni is as outspoken, prolific and energetic as ever.” - New York Times “Giovanni has long been a force for literary exuberance and social responsibility. In her latest accessible, teasing, and poignant collection, she offers straightforward, plain-speaking, sneakily resonant poems . . . she celebrates the opportunity to ‘be a truth giver / contribute / something beautiful and useful to the world.” - Booklist “That image of the poet as an astute, intuitive friend could be used to characterize Giovanni’s entire oeuvre . . . she is always concerned with the business of living, whether she’s celebrating simple pleasures, observing the difficulties of love, or denouncing hate.” - Knoxville News-Sentinel Poet, firebrand, mother, radical, healer, and sage, Nikki Giovanni has always been celebrated for her inspired and courageous voice. For decades, she has spoken out on the sensitive issues—race and gender, violence and inequality—that touch our national consciousness. As energetic and insightful as ever, Nikki Giovanni now offers us an intimate and affecting look at her personal history and the hidden corners of her own heart. In A Good Cry, she takes us into her confidence, describing the joy and peril of aging and recalling the violence that permeated her parents’ marriage and her childhood. She pays homage to the people who have given her life meaning and delight: her grandparents, who took her in and saved her life; the poets and thinkers who have influenced her; and the students who have surrounded her. Giovanni also celebrates her good friend, Maya Angelou, and the many years of friendship, poetry, and kitchen-table laughter they shared before Angelou’s death in 2014. Nikki Giovanni (1943–2024), poet, activist, mother, grandmother, and educator, grew up in Tennessee and Ohio and graduated with honors from Fisk University in Nashville. The author of over thirty books, she was also the recipient of seven NAACP Image Awards, the Langston Hughes Medal for Outstanding Poetry, the Frost Medal, as well as thirty-one honorary degrees and an Emmy Award. She garnered her most unusual honor in 2007 when a South American bat species— Micronycteris giovanniae— was named in celebration of her. A devoted teacher and honorary member of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc., she spent thirty-five years as University Distinguished Professor of English at Virginia Tech in Blacksburg, Virginia.