Elementary Secondary Higher Ed Common Reads

Secondary Education


Guides
Collections
News
(0)
Wish List (0)
Wish List
Download high-resolution image
Listen to a clip from the audiobook
audio pause button
0:00
0:00

Owed

Part of Penguin Poets

Author Joshua Bennett
Listen to a clip from the audiobook
audio pause button
0:00
0:00
Ebook
Penguin Adult HC/TR | Penguin Books
On sale Sep 01, 2020 | 96 Pages | 9780525505655
Grades 9-12 + AP/IB
Add to cart Add to list Exam Copies
See Additional Formats
From a 2021 Whiting Award and Guggenheim Fellow recipient, a “rhapsodic, rigorous poetry collection, which pays homage to everyday Black experience in the U.S.” (The New Yorker)

Gregory Pardlo described Joshua Bennett's first collection of poetry, The Sobbing School, as an "arresting debut" that was "abounding in tenderness and rich with character," with a "virtuosic kind of code switching." Bennett's new collection, Owed, is a book with celebration at its center. Its primary concern is how we might mend the relationship between ourselves and the people, spaces, and objects we have been taught to think of as insignificant, as fundamentally unworthy of study, reflection, attention, or care. Spanning the spectrum of genre and form--from elegy and ode to origin myth--these poems elaborate an aesthetics of repair. What's more, they ask that we turn to the songs and sites of the historically denigrated so that we might uncover a new way of being in the world together, one wherein we can truthfully reckon with the brutality of the past and thus imagine the possibilities of our shared, unpredictable present, anew.
© Rog Walker
Joshua Bennett is the author of The Sobbing School (Penguin, 2016), which was a National Poetry Series selection and a finalist for an NAACP Image Award. He is also the author of Being Property Once Myself (Harvard University Press, 2020), Owed (Penguin, 2020), The Study of Human Life (Penguin, 2022), and Spoken Word: A Cultural History (Knopf, 2023). He has received fellowships and awards from the Guggenheim Foundation, the Whiting Foundation, the National Endowment for the Arts, and the Society of Fellows at Harvard University. He is a Professor of Literature and Distinguished Chair of the Humanities at MIT. View titles by Joshua Bennett
Token Sings the Blues

You always or almost
always only one
in the room
Maybe two
Three is a crowd
Three is a gang
Three is a company
of thieves Three is
wow there's so many of you
Three will get you confused
with people that look nothing
like you you get called
Devin your name isn't
Devin you do your best
not to ignore such casual
erasure you know silence
will be received as affirmation
praise even & you always affirmative
You affirmative action action figure
You fantastic first black
friend You first-ballot
quota keeper You almost 
cry when your history
professor says you know
in this country the gold standard
used to be people Funny how
no one comes right out
& says things like you people
anymore it's all code
words like thug or 
diversity hire You diversity
all by yourself You contain
multitudes & are yet
contained everywhere you go
confined like there is always 
someone watching you & isn't 
there & isn't that the entire point
of this flesh you inherited
this unrepentant stain be
twice as good mama says
as if what they have is worth
your panic worth measuring
your very life against & you always
remember to measure
Your hair, your volume, your tone
over email, you perpetually
sorry You don't know why 
you apologize to no one
in particular just for being around
& in your body at the same time
You know your body 
is the real problem
You monster You beast
of burden You beast & burden
You horse but human
You centaur You map
the stars & pull back your bow
to shoot
the moon in its one good white eye
You are everything
your big sister says
& on your best
days above ground you
believe her
Copyright © 2020 by Joshua Bennett. All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
FINALIST FOR THE NEW ENGLAND BOOK AWARD IN POETRY 

“Themes of praise and debt pervade this rhapsodic, rigorous poetry collection, which pays homage to everyday Black experience in the U.S. . . . Bennett conjures a spirit of kinship that, illuminated by redolent imagery, borders on mythic, and boldly stakes claim to ‘some living, future / English, & everyone in it / is immortal.’” —The New Yorker

“Bennett captures the beauty of what really matters in life—the memories, youth sports, family traditions and little moments that many of us take for granted . . . [Owed] couldn't have been more timely.” —Salon

“Not only are these poems eloquent but also lyrical, intelligent, and, occasionally, funny. Most reflect upon and communicate the pain, joy, and intensity of the current Black experience . . . In a time when many confront and protest the racism prevalent in our society, Bennett’s new book is vital.” —Library Journal (starred review) 

“[Owed] intertwines the author’s multifaceted professions as poet, performer, and professor through powerful, crisp poems that celebrate the complexity, joy, and heartbreak of the Black experience in America . . . Bennett’s poems are more necessary than ever.” —Publishers Weekly (starred review)

“[A]stonishing poems that explore the past, childhood, family relationships, identity, and memory among many other themes, all expertly rendered through a mixture of forms . . . [Bennett] has a gift for building and setting vivid scenes and complex stories within the small frames of his stanzas.” —Booklist

“We’re lucky to have Joshua Bennett’s Owed at this hour in America. The resonances of ‘ode’ and ‘owed’ underscore his tremendous acts of invention amid ‘an ever-expanding grand Black Epilogue.’ Lyrical and political fibers are woven through narratives as clear and idiosyncratic as the plastic on your grandmother’s couch. Owed fights for the ‘ground where the children can play & come home whole.’ Bennett swings with song and exaltation; he swings with resistance and defense. I’m glad to have his amazing collection right now. I will be glad to have it tomorrow.” —Terrance Hayes, author of American Sonnets for My Past and Future Assassin

“Owed is an indictment of the state even as it is an ode to the ongoingness of Black imagination. Here, a single moment shimmers with a million resonances of attention. So the world is loved this much. And what has been taken has been taken this much. Bennett insists on repair even as he mourns what is utterly irreparable. This book is part of a breathful, bodied fight for Black life. I am emboldened and sharpened by Bennett's genius and by his love made plain across each of these shimmering pages.” —Aracelis Girmay, author of The Black Maria

About

From a 2021 Whiting Award and Guggenheim Fellow recipient, a “rhapsodic, rigorous poetry collection, which pays homage to everyday Black experience in the U.S.” (The New Yorker)

Gregory Pardlo described Joshua Bennett's first collection of poetry, The Sobbing School, as an "arresting debut" that was "abounding in tenderness and rich with character," with a "virtuosic kind of code switching." Bennett's new collection, Owed, is a book with celebration at its center. Its primary concern is how we might mend the relationship between ourselves and the people, spaces, and objects we have been taught to think of as insignificant, as fundamentally unworthy of study, reflection, attention, or care. Spanning the spectrum of genre and form--from elegy and ode to origin myth--these poems elaborate an aesthetics of repair. What's more, they ask that we turn to the songs and sites of the historically denigrated so that we might uncover a new way of being in the world together, one wherein we can truthfully reckon with the brutality of the past and thus imagine the possibilities of our shared, unpredictable present, anew.

Author

© Rog Walker
Joshua Bennett is the author of The Sobbing School (Penguin, 2016), which was a National Poetry Series selection and a finalist for an NAACP Image Award. He is also the author of Being Property Once Myself (Harvard University Press, 2020), Owed (Penguin, 2020), The Study of Human Life (Penguin, 2022), and Spoken Word: A Cultural History (Knopf, 2023). He has received fellowships and awards from the Guggenheim Foundation, the Whiting Foundation, the National Endowment for the Arts, and the Society of Fellows at Harvard University. He is a Professor of Literature and Distinguished Chair of the Humanities at MIT. View titles by Joshua Bennett

Excerpt

Token Sings the Blues

You always or almost
always only one
in the room
Maybe two
Three is a crowd
Three is a gang
Three is a company
of thieves Three is
wow there's so many of you
Three will get you confused
with people that look nothing
like you you get called
Devin your name isn't
Devin you do your best
not to ignore such casual
erasure you know silence
will be received as affirmation
praise even & you always affirmative
You affirmative action action figure
You fantastic first black
friend You first-ballot
quota keeper You almost 
cry when your history
professor says you know
in this country the gold standard
used to be people Funny how
no one comes right out
& says things like you people
anymore it's all code
words like thug or 
diversity hire You diversity
all by yourself You contain
multitudes & are yet
contained everywhere you go
confined like there is always 
someone watching you & isn't 
there & isn't that the entire point
of this flesh you inherited
this unrepentant stain be
twice as good mama says
as if what they have is worth
your panic worth measuring
your very life against & you always
remember to measure
Your hair, your volume, your tone
over email, you perpetually
sorry You don't know why 
you apologize to no one
in particular just for being around
& in your body at the same time
You know your body 
is the real problem
You monster You beast
of burden You beast & burden
You horse but human
You centaur You map
the stars & pull back your bow
to shoot
the moon in its one good white eye
You are everything
your big sister says
& on your best
days above ground you
believe her
Copyright © 2020 by Joshua Bennett. All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.

Praise

FINALIST FOR THE NEW ENGLAND BOOK AWARD IN POETRY 

“Themes of praise and debt pervade this rhapsodic, rigorous poetry collection, which pays homage to everyday Black experience in the U.S. . . . Bennett conjures a spirit of kinship that, illuminated by redolent imagery, borders on mythic, and boldly stakes claim to ‘some living, future / English, & everyone in it / is immortal.’” —The New Yorker

“Bennett captures the beauty of what really matters in life—the memories, youth sports, family traditions and little moments that many of us take for granted . . . [Owed] couldn't have been more timely.” —Salon

“Not only are these poems eloquent but also lyrical, intelligent, and, occasionally, funny. Most reflect upon and communicate the pain, joy, and intensity of the current Black experience . . . In a time when many confront and protest the racism prevalent in our society, Bennett’s new book is vital.” —Library Journal (starred review) 

“[Owed] intertwines the author’s multifaceted professions as poet, performer, and professor through powerful, crisp poems that celebrate the complexity, joy, and heartbreak of the Black experience in America . . . Bennett’s poems are more necessary than ever.” —Publishers Weekly (starred review)

“[A]stonishing poems that explore the past, childhood, family relationships, identity, and memory among many other themes, all expertly rendered through a mixture of forms . . . [Bennett] has a gift for building and setting vivid scenes and complex stories within the small frames of his stanzas.” —Booklist

“We’re lucky to have Joshua Bennett’s Owed at this hour in America. The resonances of ‘ode’ and ‘owed’ underscore his tremendous acts of invention amid ‘an ever-expanding grand Black Epilogue.’ Lyrical and political fibers are woven through narratives as clear and idiosyncratic as the plastic on your grandmother’s couch. Owed fights for the ‘ground where the children can play & come home whole.’ Bennett swings with song and exaltation; he swings with resistance and defense. I’m glad to have his amazing collection right now. I will be glad to have it tomorrow.” —Terrance Hayes, author of American Sonnets for My Past and Future Assassin

“Owed is an indictment of the state even as it is an ode to the ongoingness of Black imagination. Here, a single moment shimmers with a million resonances of attention. So the world is loved this much. And what has been taken has been taken this much. Bennett insists on repair even as he mourns what is utterly irreparable. This book is part of a breathful, bodied fight for Black life. I am emboldened and sharpened by Bennett's genius and by his love made plain across each of these shimmering pages.” —Aracelis Girmay, author of The Black Maria

Additional formats

Other books in this series

Other Books by this Author

Related Articles

English Language Arts Social Studies History

Books for Native American Heritage Month

In celebration of Native American Heritage Month this November, Penguin Random House Education is highlighting books that detail the history of Native Americans, and stories that explore Native American culture and experiences. Browse our collections here: Native American Creators Native American History & Culture

Read more

Books for Native American Heritage Month

English Language Arts Social Studies History
Social Studies Books in Spanish The Arts History High School Middle School General Education & Professional Learning Graphic Novels English Language Arts Environmental Science Favorite Authors & Series Science

2024 Middle and High School Collections

The Penguin Random House Education Middle School and High School Digital Collections feature outstanding fiction and nonfiction from the children’s, adult, DK, and Grupo Editorial divisions, as well as publishers distributed by Penguin Random House. Peruse online or download these valuable resources to discover great books in specific topic areas such as: English Language Arts,

Read more

2024 Middle and High School Collections

Social Studies Books in Spanish The Arts History High School Middle School General Education & Professional Learning Graphic Novels English Language Arts Environmental Science Favorite Authors & Series Science
new penguin random house education high school collections sixteen thematic collections and resources for grades 9-12 curated by lorena german cicely lewis morgan taylor julia e torres and ronell whitaker
General Classroom Libraries English Language Arts Advanced Placement High School Graphic Novels

PRH Education High School Collections

All reading communities should contain protected time for the sake of reading. Independent reading practices emphasize the process of making meaning through reading, not an end product. The school culture (teachers, administration, etc.) should affirm this daily practice time as inherently important instructional time for all readers. (NCTE, 2019)   The Penguin Random House High

Read more

PRH Education High School Collections

General Classroom Libraries English Language Arts Advanced Placement High School Graphic Novels
education translanguaging collections affirming bilingual and multilingual learners
General Graphic Novels Education & Professional Learning English Language Arts Favorite Authors & Series Classroom Libraries References Science Translanguaging Collections Social Studies The Arts History High School Middle School

PRH Education Translanguaging Collections

Translanguaging is a communicative practice of bilinguals and multilinguals, that is, it is a practice whereby bilinguals and multilinguals use their entire linguistic repertoire to communicate and make meaning (García, 2009; García, Ibarra Johnson, & Seltzer, 2017)   It is through that lens that we have partnered with teacher educators and bilingual education experts, Drs.

Read more

PRH Education Translanguaging Collections

General Graphic Novels Education & Professional Learning English Language Arts Favorite Authors & Series Classroom Libraries References Science Translanguaging Collections Social Studies The Arts History High School Middle School

About Secondary Education

Penguin Random House Education

Penguin Random House

About Secondary Education

Penguin Random House Education

Penguin Random House

Back to Top
0
    • 0
    Secondary Education
    Wish List (0)