Lift Every Voice

From award-winning poet and novelist Phillip B. Williams comes an astonishing new collection that revels in the possibility of creating one’s own light.

Captivating in both its grandeur and intimacy, Lift Every Voice explores the ways the past can be both a source of dread and empowerment—an unshakable reminder of violence and an enduring testament to the power of love.

In virtuosic poems that are wise, musical, richly layered, and saturated with vivid imagery, Williams honors a mother “who knew seven ways to say bitch under her breath,” a grandmother whose smile “reflects the world,” and reflects on “the impossible lift” of forgiveness.

Lift Every Voice is a staggering tribute to personal and collective evolution—a vital chorus answering only to God, community, and the empowered self.