Once a City Said: A Louisville Poets Anthology

Once a City Said is an anthology of poetry that captures the diverse voices and experiences of Louisville, Kentucky, highlighting the city's history of racial injustice, police corruption, and social unrest. The anthology is edited by Joy Priest and features thirty-seven acclaimed and emerging poets.

Format: Paperback / softback
Length: 136 pages
Publication date: 03 August 2023
Publisher: Sarabande Books, Incorporated

Once a City Said is an anthology of poetry edited by Louisville native and acclaimed Horsepower author Joy Priest, conceived in the aftermath of city-wide protests in 2020. The book showcases the polyvocal communities of Louisville, Kentucky, a city celebrated for its bourbon, basketball, and horseracing but long fraught with racial injustice, police corruption, and social unrest. Priest takes the city's narrative out of the mouths of politicians, news anchors, and police chiefs and puts it into the mouths of poets. What emerges is an intimate report of a city misshapen by segregation, tourism, and ruptures in the public trust.

Featuring thirty-seven acclaimed and emerging poets, including Mitchell L. H. Douglas, Erin Keane, Ryan Ridge, and Hannah L. Drake, Once a City Said archives the traditions and icons, landmarks and spirits, portraits and memories of Derby City. This publication is supported by individual donors who gave to the 2021 Fund for the Arts ArtsMatch campaign. Matching funds were made possible by Fund for the Arts in partnership with LG&E and KU Foundation.

Weight: 280g
Dimension: 153 x 230 x 13 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9781956046083