Urbanshee

Siaara Freeman, 2022

Urbanshee is Siaara Freeman's retelling of fairy tales and mythological stories through a modern and urban lens. This collection discusses the weight of being Black in America, Freeman's relationships to lovers and family, and how the physical place you grew up can become part of your identity. Urbanshee expertly combines humor, fantasy, and raw emotion to create this astonishing reinvention of classic fables. Freeman's poems are venturously unique and are sure to enchant anyone who reads them.

Praise for Siaara Freeman

Siaara Freeman changed everything I thought I knew about what it means to be a courageous writer. She is my favorite living poet.

— Andrea Gibson, author of You Better Be Lightning

Urbanshee is the debut that we've been waiting for. Only if we're ready to reckon with our own harsh dealings of the truth, can we fully appreciate this body of work. Siaara Freeman aims and does not miss, she crumbles and still reigns.

— Ebony Stewart, author of BloodFresh

In a searing debut, Siaara Freeman wails her Urbanshee poems as an act of reclamation for all a Black girl has lost, all she dares to dream for, and all the ways she can peel herself together. Open this book, put your head in the maw, and emerge with a soaring Black girl song in your ears.

— Tyehimba Jess, author of Olio