Scars/Stars is the first collection of poetry by Walidah Imarisha. It was released October 2013 by Drapetomedia Press.
Description
In her book Beloved, Toni Morrison describes the whip scars on a former slave’s back as a tree sprouting from her flesh. Walidah Imarisha’s first poetic collection invokes this same process of alchemy, transforming both individual and collective scars into North Stars, guideposts that center us and keep us moving in the right direction. Scars/Stars reminds us that even in ravaged earth, something beautiful can still grow.
Praise for Scars/Stars
"Love songs for freedom fighters… I think of Walidah Imarisha's work as medicine for the masses. The imagery, the heart and the life experience in these poems are like tears mixed with gasoline, spark a fire." - Gabriel Teodros, emcee and writer
“Scars/Stars is Walidah Imarisha at her poetic revolutionary finest. Her life's odyssey takes one to the stars - and through the scars - on a quest for love and struggle that literally takes the breath away. It is a masterpiece that you simply must have.”
– Sundiata Acoli, writer and political prisoner
“Tenacious in her political commitment and steadfast in her belief of new possibilities, Walidah Imarisha is a voice that cannot be quarantined or categorized. Imarisha’s Scars/Stars is a testament to a new wave in the poetry of resistance; read her, hear her, join her song!” - Matthew Shenoda, author of Seasons of Lotus, Seasons of Bone