Vivek Shraya

A poetry book by the author of "God Loves Hair" a bold and timely interrogation of skin.

Even This Page Is White

Maggie Gordon

I am not having good luck with poetry today. Even This Page is White is an evocative title. It's a poetic title and it made me eager to dive into some intense poems about race. Unfortunately, while the ideas expressed were valuable and important, I struggled to really see most of this book as poetry. On one hand, anything can be poetry today, so it seems. On the other, there are rules for structure even in free verse that make poetry really sing. There are some really interesting beginnings of poems in Shraya's collection. I think with a stronger mentor and some editing, these will be exceptional poems. A lot of what's in here though is a bit too derivative. If you are active in online social justice communities, these are conversations and tumblr posts you see all the time without the added benefit of a poetic spin. Shraya plays with form, but never really explores the true extent of what language could do. The strongest part of this collection deals with Shraya's personal experience and those are entries worth a read. Alas! Another poetry book that didn't quite speak to me.

Alexa Jade

This was a great introduction to Vivek’s writing! I can’t wait to read other works.

Emily Perkovich

I was slightly disappointed with this book. I’m not big on found poetry, and there was quite a few of those in here. I loved the message of this book. I just wish there were more words, more message.

Even This Page Is White

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