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.
February 18, 2025
Richard Blanco
by
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