Ink Knows No Borders Poems of the Immigrant and Refugee Experience

Contributors to Ink Knows No Borders:

ELIZABETH ACEVEDO | SAMIRA AHMED | KAVEH AKBAR | EAVAN BOLAND | CHEN CHEN | SAFIA ELHILLO | MARTÍN ESPADA | CARLOS ANDRÉS GÓMEZ | JOSEPH O. LEGASPI | ADA LIMÓN | EMTITHAL MAHMOUD | BAO PHI | ALBERTO RÍOS | ERIKA L. SÁNCHEZ | GARY SOTO | CHRYSANTHEMUM TRAN | OCEAN VUONG | JAVIER ZAMORA . . . and many others.

This collection of sixty-four poems by poets who come from all over the world shares the experience of first- and second-generation young adult immigrants and refugees. Whether it’s cultural and language differences, homesickness, social exclusion, racism, stereotyping, or questions of identity, the Dreamers, immigrants, and refugee poets included here encourage readers to honor their roots as well as explore new paths, offering empathy and hope. Many of the struggles described are faced by young people everywhere: isolation, self-doubt, confusion, and emotional dislocation. But also joy, discovery, safety, and family. This is a hopeful, beautiful, and meaningful book for any reader.

Poet, nonfiction writer and teacher Patrice Vecchione has edited several highly acclaimed anthologies for young adults including (from Henry Holt) Truth & Lies, which was named one of the best children's books by School Library Journal, Revenge & Forgiveness, and Faith & Doubt, named a best book of the year for young adults by the American Library Association. She's the author of Writing and the Spiritual Life (McGraw-Hill) and Step into Nature: Nurturing Imagination and Spirit in Everyday Life (Beyond Words/Atria), as well as two collections of poetry. For many years, Patrice has taught poetry and creative writing to young people (often working with migrant children) through her program, "The Heart of the Word: Poetry and the Imagination." She is also a columnist for her local daily paper, The Monterey Herald, and has published essays on children and poetry for several outlets including the California Library Association Journal. patricevecchione.com.

Alyssa Raymond is a freelance editor of adult and YA fiction and nonfiction. She hails from Massachusetts and Colorado, where she taught writing and rhetoric at the University of Colorado at Boulder and was a veteran bookseller at her favorite independent bookstore, the Boulder Book Store.