Black History Month Book List
Explore our book list for Black History Month, featuring diverse stories, inspiring biographies, and evocative poetry that highlight the richness of the Black experience. Join us in celebrating these impactful works that contribute to a deeper understanding of history and culture.
TOWARD AN ANTI-RACIST POETICS
By Wayde Compton
Toward an Anti-Racist Poetics seeks to dislodge the often unspoken white universalism that underpins literary production and reception today. In this personal and thoughtful book, award-winning author Wayde Compton explores how we might collectively develop an approach that makes space for diversity.
Toward an Anti-Racist Poetics Wayde Compton
Published: Feb 22, 2024 by University of Alberta Press
Wayde Compton 
Published: Feb 22, 2024 by University of Alberta Press
ISBN: 9781772127430
Available as an accessible eBook
POURIN’ DOWN RAIN
By Cheryl Foggo
Pourin’ Down Rain is the 30th anniversary edition of Cheryl Foggo’s landmark work about growing up Black on the Canadian prairies. As Cheryl explores her ancestry, what comes to light gives her the confidence to claim her place in the Canadian west as a proud Black woman. In this beautiful, moving work, she celebrates the Black experience and Black resiliency on the prairies.
Pourin’ Down Rain: A Black Woman Claims Her Place in the Canadian West Cheryl Foggo
Published: Jan 24, 2020 by Brush Education
Cheryl Foggo
Published: Jan 24, 2020 by Brush Education
ISBN: 9781550598339
Available as an accessible eBook and audiobook.
PHILLIS
By Alison Clarke
Phillis Wheatley was the first African American to publish a book of poetry. In 1773, her book, Poems on Various Subjects, Religious and Moral, was published to international acclaim. Through a series of poems and prose-poems, Alison Clarke presents Wheatley’s world with depth and liveliness, reimagining the past for a modern audience. Wheatley’s story is told in first-person poetry that illuminates significant chapters of her life, capturing the brilliant heights of her writing career along with the inevitable, brutal injustices she faced as an enslaved Black person in North America.
Phillis Published: Oct 15, 2020 by University of Calgary Press
Alison Clarke
Published: Oct 15, 2020 by University of Calgary Press
ISBN: 9781773851358
HOWDY, I’M JOHN WARE
By Ayesha Clough, Illustrated by Hugh Rockwood
Howdy! This is the story of John Ware, Canada’s legendary Black cowboy, who blazed a trail of kindness despite adversity. Leaving behind slavery and war in the southern US, Ware travelled two thousand miles in the saddle, and became one of Alberta’s most loved and respected ranchers.
A SELECTED HISTORY OF SOUL SPEAK
By Andrea Thompson
In this collection of poems, Andrea Thompson investigates the intersection of page and stage, and the evolution of spoken word as a hybrid form of literary orature. Thompson’s collection blurs the space between public and private, while excavating the influence of Black North American history, art and culture on contemporary poetics.
A Selected History of Soul Speak Andrea Thompson
Published: Nov 04, 2021 by Frontenac House Ltd.
Andrea Thompson
Published: Nov 04, 2021 by Frontenac House Ltd.
ISBN: 9781989466254
HOW THE BLACKS CREATED CANADA
By Fil Fraser
Across the country and throughout time, Black people have played pivotal roles in the unfolding of Canadian history. Woven into the fabric of the country itself, they have made serious contributions to this great nation. So take a seat and discover the surprising and satisfying history that is finally making it in the mainstream.
How the Blacks Created Canada Fil Fraser
Published: Apr 20, 2010 by Dragon Hill Publishing
Fil Fraser
Published: Apr 20, 2010 by Dragon Hill Publishing
ISBN: 9781896124438
Available as an accessible eBook
PERSONALS
By Ian Williams
These are not love poems. These are almost-love poems. Jittery, plaintive, and fresh, these are poems voiced through a startling variety of speakers who continually rev themselves up to the challenge of connecting with others, often to no avail. With a deft hand and playful ear, Williams entices the reader to stumble alongside his characters as they search, again and again, for intimacy, for love, and for each other.
Personals Ian Williams
Published: Apr 01, 2012 by Freehand Books
Ian Williams
Published: Apr 01, 2012 by Freehand Books
ISBN: 9781554811045
Available as an accessible eBook
DARE TO BIRD
By Melissa Hafting
Dare to Bird explores the joy that birding and photography has brought to Melissa Hafting’s life and how both have allowed her to foster meaningful connections with young birders from diverse backgrounds, along with the conservation community, eco-travel advocates, rare bird enthusiasts, and ethical wildlife viewing practitioners. Hafting is determined to expand birding to include more BIPOC, women, and LGBTQIA+ people through youth outreach and talking about the racial and sexist barriers she herself has faced in her journey to become part of the birding community. Preorder now!
Dare to Bird: Exploring the Joy and Healing Power of Birds Published: Jun 11, 2024 by RMB | Rocky Mountain Books
Published: Jun 11, 2024 by RMB | Rocky Mountain Books
ISBN: 9781771606547
Available as an accessible eBook