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Rachel Long

Rachel Long is a poet and the founder of Octavia Poetry Collective for Women of Colour, which is housed at Southbank Centre in London. My Darling from the Lions, first published by Picador in 2020, is her debut collection. She was born in London, and resides there today.

Books by Rachel Long

My Darling from the Lions

by Rachel Long

Praise

  • [A] warm, expansive debut, which plumbs aspects of female identity with verve. Love, motherhood, Black culture: She shows it all.

    —The New York Times Book Review

  • Poetry for the modern world.

    —NYLON

  • Achingly vulnerable and sharp, it lifts up experiences that unite Black women across the diaspora. . . . By the time you get to the end, you’ll know in your bones that you’re not alone.

    —ESSENCE

  • Alive with a breathless energy.

    —The Guardian

  • The intimacy of her poetic voice enhances its power to disarm.

    —Times Literary Supplement

  • A rich yet sometimes deeply sinister look at all stages of the restriction and resistance of feminine desire.

    —Washington Independent Review of Books

  • Remarkable.

    —Big Black Books

  • Long takes us swiftly through the trials and tribulations of themes we’d all recognize like love, sex, politics, and more. She is a voice that is hard to forget.

    —Glitter Guide

  • An enchanting and heartwarming new voice in poetry.

    —Bernardine Evaristo

  • A masterpiece. . . . Clarifyingly alive to the entire universe of a woman’s life.

    —Elaine Castillo, author of America Is Not the Heart

  • These gripping, vivid poems announce Long as a notable new voice.

    —Publishers Weekly

  • Superb. . . . profoundly moving.

    —Booklist

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