Make Me Rain by Nikki Giovanni is a slight, nostalgic collection of poetry and some prose from the esteemed Black poet. While I was granted an advanced copy via #NetGalley and the publisher, I ended up listening to the book on audio. Giovanni narrates the audio herself, and adds a certain charm and additional authenticity to her reflections on life. I will freely admit that poetry is not my forte as a reader, and sometimes I struggle to understand what a poet is getting at in a piece. I struggled a little with this collection, trying to find a consistent theme or message. Then again, I’m still struggling with focusing on reading right now, and so it may be a combination of me trying to read poetry while having no attention span that caused me to struggle. I think the closest thing to a theme I found was the repeated motif of quilts and/ or stews/ soups. The idea of taking the leftover/ unwanted remnants of items to create something else that is beautiful, delicious, and/or wonderful. There’s also a running theme of reflection on a long life well lived, with beloved family and friends and community and culture and traditions. Given my own personal preference, my favorite pieces were Giovanni’s tart commentaries on the Trump administration and reflections on Black life in America.

I requested an advanced readers’ copy of this collection because Saeed Jones specifically mentions Giovanni as a formational poet for himself in his luminous, moving memoir How We Fight For Our Lives, and I wanted to experience the work of an author of whom he “spoke”/ wrote so highly. Now that I’ve read some of her latter work, I’d like to go back and read earlier work, to see what a younger Giovanni had to say as well.

Thank you #NetGalley and William Morrow for giving me an advanced readers’ copy of #MakeMeRain in exchange for my honest review.

A beautiful collection of stories/poems by Giovanni that celebrates family, heritage, race, and her accomplishments over the past half century.

Honestly writing about black culture, Ms. Giovanni, an award winning, Grammy nominated professor, keeps inspiring established and new readers to her works.

Lovely, insightful read.

I received an ARC for an honest review.

The writing in Nikki Giovanni's new collection Make Me Rain is important and accessible. She writes about what it means to be a Black woman living in Trump's America--a place where white supremacy seems to grow stronger every day. Although the poems in the volume are resonant and meaningful, Giovanni's prose is especially muscular and important. An excellent and approachable read.

Giovanni is always amazing, and I loved thos one just as much much as her earlier work. She is a treasure.

What an honor, pleasure and delight to review an advance copy of Make Me Rain by one of thee most celebrated poets. This new collection speaks to the injustices of our society in Nikki Giovanni's signature sharp style. She even lets readers into her personal home life by sharing stories of loved ones and proudly displaying her black heritage through verse.

Nikki Giovanni minces no words. There is no guesswork in her prose. She unapologetically writes about racism, marriage, black athletes, the current political administration and shares her own truth. It's a treat whenever authors give a glimpse into their personal bubble. To get her perspective on the current state of our lives was enlightening and motivational.

In the midst of today's highly emotional unpredictable times, read Make Me Rain to nourish your soul. I recommend. I stan, periodt.

Happy Pub Day to the G.O.A.T. Nikki Giovanni! Make Me Rain: Poems & Prose is now available.

LiteraryMarie

Nikki Giovanni is a living legend. Her poetry always hits the spot, and this most recent collection is no different. It doesn't have a very unified theme, but touches on a lot of Giovanni classics - aging, friendship, being Black in America, etc. The way her poetry talks about food is my absolute favorite, and there's plenty of that in Make Me Rain. New work by Nikki Giovanni is exactly what I needed during 2020.

This is a collection of poetry for our times. Honest and important work to add to any poetry collection.

Make Me Rain is my favorite Nikki Giovanni book to date. Very relatable topics. Many of the poems resonated with me. She writes about what is going on today. Issues we are dealing with in these most troubling times.

There is something about this body of work that feels a little more personal to me than her prior books. Maybe it’s because of poems like Seeds, a poem that confronts her own mortality.

Or maybe it’s the prose, which gave me
small pieces of her personal life. A quick appetizer, not enough to fill me up, but just the right amount to give me a taste and leave me wanting more.

Although I love the poetry, it’s the prose that really pulled me in. Giovanni’s very blunt and direct writing style captured my full attention. No sugar coating! Straight no chaser, just the way I like it.

She wrote poems for quite a few people. There are poems for Barack Obama, Ntozake Shange, Tupac, Toni Morrison among others. Also, Giovanni does not hold back her feelings as they pertain to the current president.

Make Me Rain is a searing body of work that is precisely tuned into current times. A tapestry of insights, emotions and experiences woven together to create a book worth reading.

Make Me Rain
Poems & Prose
by Nikki Giovanni
HarperCollins Publishers
You Like Them You Are Auto-Approved
William Morrow
Poetry
Pub Date 20 Oct 2020 | Archive Date 15 Dec 2020

Thanks to NetGalley and HarperCollins Publishers for the ARC of this book. I love Nikki Giovanni, but in this case, her poetry didn't move me as it usually does. My favorite was Vote.

3 star

Reading a new poetry collection from Nikki Giovanni is like a breathe of fresh air, knowledge, consciousness and unapologetic Blackness and womanhood. This collection is particularly timely with the changes happening in our country. I know that I will always get a dose of knowledge and uplift from her work. However, she never stays away from the tough topics. "Vote" is a favorite piece in this work.

This beautifully written collection of poetry and prose is classic Giovanni. Touching on topics ranging from aging, to memories of childhood, to elegies for loved ones who have passed, to pride in black heritage, this collection is one of the venerated Giovanni's finest. She has a classic style that tackles universal topics in an accessible way. Her writing is strongest in her pared down stanzas that somehow manage to succinctly describe huge topics. The pieces that describe her childhood memories are beautiful and written with the perfect amount of nostalgia, never veering into being overly sentimental.
I would recommend this to people who enjoy clean, simple, beautiful poetry about classic subjects.

I love Nikki Giovanni, and have read many of her other works. I believe she is one of our finest living poets. This was not my favorite of her works. I've always appreciated her straightforward, practical style that is still layered with meaning. Many of the poems in this book felt extremely relevant to what's happening in early June 2020 with the Black Lives Matter movement and nationwide protests. I appreciate her voice and perspective on those issues. It was also nice to get some glimpses into her life, but on the whole, this just wasn't as moving a collection for me as some of her others.

Nikki Giovanni is one of those rarest poets who can relate the everyday to more heavy issues of race, nation and even cosmos. She manages to stitch events across history.

" Give me scraps
and I will create
a quilt"

She is the presevateur of human experience.