Legacy: Women Poets of the Harlem Renaissance

In the poetry collection Legacy: Women Poets of the Harlem Renaissance, Nikki Grimes works as a guide. Throughout the collection, Grimes features a poem by one Harlem Renaissance poet and includes her own poem inspired by that poem's lines. In this way, young readers are introduced not only to a woman poet they may not have heard of but also to Terrance Hayes’s “Golden Shovel” form in which one writes after another poet's lines. Through this form, Grimes allows her poems to become familiar while the range of poets included in the collection keeps the poetry moving in unexpected directions. This is a collection that children will not only adore but will be joyously challenged by--hopefully to write their own inspired works.