Grabbed: Poets & Writers on Sexual Assault, Empowerment & Healing

Elisa Albo is the author of the poetry collection Passage to America and Each Day More, a collection of elegies. Her poems have appeared in many journals and anthologies. In Grabbed: Poets & Writers on Sexual Assault, Empowerment & Healing (Beacon Press) Albo collaborated with Richard Blanco, Caridad Moro, and Nikki Moustaki. Grabbed is a gender-inclusive anthology of poetry and prose that addresses the physical and psychological act of being “grabbed,” or in any way assaulted. The #MeToo movement, the infamous Access Hollywood tape, and the depraved and hypocritical actions of celebrities, politicians, CEOs, and other powerful people have caused people all over the nation to speak out in outrage. The editors asked writers and poets — including Rita Dove, Jericho Brown, Eileen Miles, Ana Menendez and Sapphire, as well as some newer voices —to add to the conversation about what being “grabbed” means to them. What they received are often searing, heart-rending works, ranging in topic from sexual misconduct to racial injustice, from an unwanted caress to rape, expressed in powerful, beautifully crafted prose and poetry.

Caridad Moro is the author of Visionware. She is the recipient of an Elizabeth George Foundation Grant and a Florida Individual Artist Fellowship in poetry. Her poems and essays have been nominated for the Pushcart Prize and Best of the Net and have appeared in numerous publications and anthologies. She is the Associate Editor for the daily online literary journal, SWWIM Every Day. In Grabbed: Poets & Writers on Sexual Assault, Empowerment & Healing (Beacon Press) Moro collaborated with Elisa Albo, Richard Blanco, and Nikki Moustaki. Grabbed is a gender-inclusive anthology of poetry and prose that addresses the physical and psychological act of being “grabbed,” or in any way assaulted. The #MeToo movement, the infamous Access Hollywood tape, and the depraved and hypocritical actions of celebrities, politicians, CEOs, and other powerful people have caused people all over the nation to speak out in outrage. The editors asked writers and poets — including Rita Dove, Jericho Brown, Eileen Miles, Ana Menendez and Sapphire, as well as some newer voices —to add to the conversation about what being “grabbed” means to them. What they received are often searing, heart-rending works, ranging in topic from sexual misconduct to racial injustice, from an unwanted caress to rape, expressed in powerful, beautifully crafted prose and poetry.

Richard Blanco’s poetry collections include City of a Hundred Fires, Directions to the Beach of the Dead, and How to Love a Country. He currently serves as the first-ever Education Ambassador for the Academy of American Poets and is a member of the Obama Foundation’s advisory council. In Grabbed: Poets & Writers on Sexual Assault, Empowerment & Healing (Beacon Press) Blanco collaborated with Elisa Albo, Caridad Moro, and Nikki Moustaki. Grabbed is a gender-inclusive anthology of poetry and prose that addresses the physical and psychological act of being “grabbed,” or in any way assaulted. The #MeToo movement, the infamous Access Hollywood tape, and the depraved and hypocritical actions of celebrities, politicians, CEOs, and other powerful people have caused people all over the nation to speak out in outrage. The editors asked writers and poets — including Rita Dove, Jericho Brown, Eileen Miles, Ana Menendez and Sapphire, as well as some newer voices —to add to the conversation about what being “grabbed” means to them. What they received are often searing, heart-rending works, ranging in topic from sexual misconduct to racial injustice, from an unwanted caress to rape, expressed in powerful, beautifully crafted prose and poetry.