Smoking the Bible

The pages of this book burn with incipient violence, tenderness, grief and loss. Ancestral and personal histories are organically interwoven, resulting in a delicate balance between realism and mythology, past and present, religion and sacrilege. This short collection leaves readers satisfied with its offerings, and craving more, like a cigar burned down to the nub.

Abani's command over language and imagery is beautiful, and interwoven themes of family, grief and culture make each poem feel entirely unique, but cohesive. If you're going to read any poetry collection this year, make it this one.

Abani is a cultural catalyst and his work interspersed the verities of human quotidian burdens, longing, efforts, rituals and beliefs