woke up no light

A poignant and rousing debut book of poetry from the acclaimed, bestselling author of the novel Nightcrawling, also the former Youth Poet Laureate of Oakland, California.

Leila Mottley follows her trailblazing first novel with a perfectly pitched first collection of poems that demonstrate her energy and range. woke up no light is full of heart and edge, subtlety and fluidity. Moving in sections from “girlhood” to “neighborhood” to “falsehood” to, finally, “womanhood,” these poems open up the experiences of a young Black woman with immediacy and wisdom. Mottley sets forth personal and political revelation with piercing detail. In “Crow Call,” she casts her vision wide enough to take in the ongoing generational struggle for justice across history. In “For the Women I Twerk To,” she zeroes in on a body in motion, with intimacy and abandon.

With the force of Amanda Gorman, the pointedness of Morgan Parker, the gravitas of Tracy K. Smith, and the youthful energy of Jasmine Mans, woke up no light confirms Leila Mottley's arrival and demonstrates the enduring power of her voice—brave and distinctive and thoroughly her own.