A wide ranging collection of black love poems both contemporary and ancient. The Suitcase Book of Love Poems holds a mirror up to the soul of the UK nation. Bringing together the best of black and Asian love poetry from the UK and beyond, it is a perfect train journey read. Between the covers are confessional poems, haiku, ghazals, tankas, jazz inspired pieces and reggae poems, contributed by UK and diaspora poets at the top of their craft. Added to the mix are a selection of classic poems from black antiquity and urban remixes of some of Shakespeare’s sonnets.

Editor Martin de Mello talks about The Suitcase Book of Love Poems…

“The Suitcase Book of Love Poems is packed with love: Asian takes on love, odes from Egyptian times, Shakespeare sonnets recut for urban times, black on black love, black on white love, love beyond colour, kama sutra style stuff, agonies of love, foreplay of love, afterplay of love, first love, last love and the stages in between.

Love is a natural subject of curiosity. It maddens and intrigues us all. I guess this collection is also a way into an understanding of the heartbeat of diverse communities as expressed in love poetry written by its best writers. It's already proving a success with the critics, and we’re hoping it will meet with the same enthusiasm among general lovers of poetry and…love!”

Martin De Mello has played a leading role in the development of a community of UK black poets. He teaches the advanced black poets course in Manchester UK, runs the Cultureword writers workshop and was a key participant in the UK-Jamaica Hot House New Writers Project 2006.

Muli Amaye writes and edits long and short fiction, as well as poetry. She is writing her PhD in Creative Writing at Lancaster University and is a creative writing tutor and workshop facilitator. She coordinated the UK National Black Writers Conference 2007.

Night

Deyika Nzeribe

Lights from the glass above us
add to the night city bouquet.
Its petals shimmer in the dark water ahead.
Wrapped tight around
each other to
save a dream
We cast a wish up
Towards those high lanterns.
Where for a moment
It becomes flame
Warms us
And
fades.
We leave
Buy coffee
to replace the
heat.

1km above you

Segun Lee-French

Once more
a glittering carpet
of Lagos lights.
Once more
the air is black
& full of life.
Once more
the flight is short
& dawn is sweet.
Once more
yr taste fades

When I Make Love

Berber (Morocco)

When I make love with my lover
it is as if I were cleaning grain
to feed myself
I eat and eat a whole field full
yet my heart is not satisfied

The Moon

Anjum Malik

The moon
White, bright, round, light
She witnessed our love
Watching detached
But linking
Our love
Bringing us together
Whilst we lay alone
Far apart
Across the waters
And the lands
Making us one

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“An accomplished collection of love poems by an emerging community of black British artists, this refreshing anthology represents an exciting and confident departure from the issue-based writing of an earlier generation.” James Procter, Newcastle University

“Love poetry is rare these days; this is brilliant!” Jack Mapanje

"Ranging from 'remixes' of William Shakespeare’s sonnets to haiku-like meditations on the pleasures and pains of romance, the Love Anthology offers a rich and varied gathering of poems about love that both confirm and challenge the stereotypes of the love lyric. This is a wonderful gathering of beautifully crafted poems.

It is clear that the editors of the Love Anthology thought carefully about the balance of formal dexterity and passionate articulation in their selection of poems for this refreshing gathering of love verses that remind us of the universal themes that shape our humanities engagement with romance. This collection is a well-conceived and sophisticated anthology—well worth the read.

Refreshingly, the poems are not clichéd, never hackneyed and always aware that the sweetness of love is only understood when set against love’s bitter moments. The Love Anthology offers quietly realized meditations on love that continue to resonate and entertain long after the book is put aside. "

Kwame Dawes
Distinguished Poet In Residence
Louise Fry Scudder Professor of Liberal Arts
Director of the SC Poetry Initiative
Director of USC Arts Institute

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