Seasons of Lotus, Seasons of Bone

Matthew Shenoda is a dynamic, award-winning younger poet with a big reputation at the intersection of ethnicity and poetry. He was a noted performance poet in San Francisco when his debut collection was published by Coffee House Press. That collection had an introduction by Sonia Sanchez. It won the American Book Award, the inaugural Hala Maksoud Award for Emerging Voice, and was named one of 2005's debut books of the year by Poets & Writers Magazine. Since then, Shenoda has been hired to teach on the faculty of the MFA Program at Goddard College. His new home in Los Angeles gives him access to an even larger local audience. Shenoda also has family and deep roots in Egypt and travels there annually. This book deals heavily with contemporary Egypt, which is never far from ancient Egypt, as well as the African continent and its diasporas.