Americas conversation on racial quality and social justice was very much on the agenda at the L.A. Times Festival of Books. And in keeping with that spirit, poets like Arida Wright have been pouring out both their feelings and experiences on the subject through their work. Her book, Crossing the Threshold, was among the books exhibited at the book event.
San Diego, CA – WEBWIRE – Friday, June 2, 2023
Encouraged by people who saw how much her voice mattered, Wright uses poetry to highlight injustices against Black society as well as the highs and lows from the burdens placed upon it.
At this years Los Angeles Times Festival of Books, the challenges of representation, racial justice, and more were covered in panels throughout the event.
The same can also be said for the many books exhibited, including a newly published poetry book by Arida Wright.
Titled Crossing the Threshold: Voice of a Black Woman, the books poems tell of Wrights struggles to find her own voice when expressing the impact of racism on her life. If she were to use a single phrase, she described her experience as Black but lives in a White world.
In 1975, Wright was in love with a white boyfriend at an all-white high school, and the experience resulted in severe mental trauma. This pain wouldnt find itself an outlet until much later when she started writing radical poetry that tried to transmute into love.
Wright has spent a lot of time in many poetry writing circles in Key West. And as much as she valued her time in them, she could not escape the difficult fact that she was the only person of color among her groups. She was initially very hesitant to share her work but was surprised when it gained a lot of praise, encouraging her to finally share her poems with the wider world.
With a little help from ReadersMagnet, a book marketing and self-publishing company, Wright has done exactly that by getting her work exhibited in events, such as the Los Angeles Times Festival of Books. Today, she lives by a philosophy of self-empowerment and wants her book to show what healing from racial prejudice would look like.
Crossing the Threshold: Voice of a Black Woman by Arida Wright is available on Amazon and Barnes & Noble.
Crossing the Threshold: Voice of a Black Woman
Author | Arida Wright
Published date | March 25, 2023
Publisher | Book Baby
Genre |Poetry
Author Bio
Arida Wright is a poet and the author of Then Sings My Soul and has a collection of poems in several anthologies. She is President of Powerlines Healing by the Sea Ministries and lives her philosophy of self-empowerment, which for her is a lifelong mission of spirituality. She is a Minister of Metaphysics and a Traditional Reiki Master. She is a member of the Key West Poetry Guild and the Key West Writers Guild. She lives in Key West, FL.