This anthology, nearly sixty years in the making, features over one hundred poets and writers on the theme of “Black is Beautiful, Black is Powerful, Black is Home.” Exploring the past, present, and future of Black writing, this collection bridges many of the founders of the Black Arts Movement—including Nikki Giovanni, Sonia Sanchez, Haki Madhubuti, Amiri Baraka, Wanda Coleman, Dudley Randall, Eugene B. Redmond, and Askia Touré—with contemporary established writers in the tradition such as brian g. gilmore—to Ishmael Reed’s “younger generation”—Karla Brundage, Allison E. Francis, Tongo Eisen-Martin, and C. Liegh McInnis.

Designed as an open conversation between generations bridging hearts and minds across decades, Black Fire—This Time’s works are rooted in preservation, reverence, and discovery. Several little-known works are included for the first time. New works—from established writers as well as emerging talent—share this historic debut. Black Fire—This Time also stands out for its inclusion of many voices that were underrepresented in previous anthologies, most notably Black Fire: An Anthology of Afro-American Writing (1968) and its ancestor, The New Negro (1925). The works of writers such as Nikki Giovanni and James Baldwin provide a more complete view of the myriad perspectives on Black identity and writing.