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"Author Atena O. Danner adds to the Skinner House inSpirit series with this collection of meditations calling for rest and magic"--
List of contents
Preface
Acknowledgments
Storyteller’s Invocation
Decatur, Georgia Creeks
Mending
Prayer for Artists and Creatives
Ancestors of the Page and the Call
Conspiracy
Sharing
Of the Altar
Singing Prayer
Evolution of Worship
Lineage of Magic
Facebook Vespers
Simple Parts of Faith
Sharing Losses
Swimming Alone
The Divine Audacity of Bree Newsome
Reckon: Reclaim
Changeling Generation
Teacher to Teacher to Teacher
Divine Right to Rest
Litany for the Exhausted
Litany of Oops and Ouch
Litanies of Worthiness
Labyrinth Chant
Benediction to Build a World
Psalm of Talents
A Spell for Warriors and Heroes
Thinking of Mathew
Reciprocity
Spirit Does
Election Night 2020
Every Storm Runs Out of Rain
Blessing of the Instigators
Giving Each Other Our Flowers
Humble yourself before the brutal lessons of the free Black child!
Combing Liturgy
A Normal Conversation About Attending UU Churches
Unconditional Earth
In Darkness, All Things Are Possible
MYOB
A Black Daughter Speaks of Rivers
Generational Wealth
Praise Song for a Desert Rock
Spitting Out Rocks
Instincts
Attention Deficit Invocations
Dear Fear,
Earthen Vessel
Revenge Bedtime Contemplation
Stories and Stars
Kuumba and the Fourth Principle
About the author
Atena O. Danner is an unapologetically Black time-traveling poet-activist who dwells in the past to survive the future. She writes toward Beloved Community, Black liberation, and collective imagination. Atena lives near the traditional homelands of the people of the Council of Three Fires and of the Menominee, Miami, and Ho-Chunk nations with her partner, pets, and two free Black children.
Summary
A call to anyone who thought they were alone on the journey, Incantations for Rest is for kindred spirits: neurodivergent folks, parents up late past bedtime nursing resentment, Black people in predominantly white spaces—anyone who has found themselves at the edges of Beloved Community.
Incantations for Rest is an invitation to slow down and explore every kind of rest, providing sacred space for those exhausted by the demands of a racist, ableist society. This stunning collection of poems, meditations, and magic by poet-activist Atena O. Danner is an examination of spiritual spaces, a love letter to Black well-being, and medicine for BIPOC people. Within these pages you are invited to savor connection, question assumptions, admit to complicated feelings, and still make room for joy. It is a beacon of affirmation and a vital tool for ritual and reflection.
Foreword
- Online campaign featuring social media images with blurbs and reviews of the book as well as designed graphics of select poems.
- Early reviewer promotion through advance copies to encourage reader reviews and generate buzz.
- National review outreach to print publications (PW, Kirkus, Booklist, Library Journal, Foreword, New York Times) and online (NPR, The Rumpus, Spirituality & Practice, Book Riot)
- Advertising in print publications (full page ad in April Issue of Poets & Writers and featured in the Great Reads section in Sojourners) and online (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Sojo mail, and featured banner in poets.org "Poem-a-Day" email newsletter)
- Promotion on the publisher’s website (skinnerhouse.org), Twitter feed (@skinnerhouse), Instagram page (@skinnerhouse), Facebook page (/skinnerhouse), Tumblr page (@skinnerhousebooks), Pinterest (@skinnerhousebks) and publisher’s e-newsletter.
- Promotion during National Poetry Month, Black History Month, Juneteenth, and more.
- Events one in-person launch event and various readings.
