Our book of the week is our Summer 2026 Special Commendation, The Intentions of Thunder: New and Selected Poems by Patricia Smith (Bloodaxe).
"Open her New and Selected anywhere and you get this sense of repeatedly finding yourself in deep water from which you paddle to calmer shallows, as an act of comprehension, after the razor-edged exposure of your nerves." — Fred D'Aguiar, PBS Selector
Patricia Smith is a crucial, groundbreaking voice in contemporary poetry. The Intentions of Thunder gathers, for the first time, the essential work from across her career. Collections drawn upon include her Pulitzer finalist Incendiary Art (published by Bloodaxe in the UK) featuring her compelling chronicle of the devastating murder of Emmett Till, a backdrop for present-day racial calamities and calls for resistance.
With impassioned eloquence and a sharpened focus on incidents of national mayhem and mourning, these poems are charged, painful, revelatory, and joyous in equal measure.
Order The Intentions of Thunder here, and get 25% off using your PBS membership discount code.