"Lorenzo Thomas's Collected Poems is a thorough retrospective of the work of a poet of the Black Arts Movement in the United States in the 20th century. Often engaged with political and social upheavals, for example the civil rights movement and Vietnam War, Thomas uses formal experimentation and elements of music and pop culture to reflect upon the transforming experience of being an "American.""--

LORENZO THOMAS (1944-2005), was a critic and poet, and published volumes of scholarship as well as numerous essays, including several histories of the Umbra group. ALDON LYNN NIELSEN is the author of Integral Music: Languages of African American Innovation. He is the George and Barbara Kelly professor of American literature at Penn State University. LAURA VRANA is assistant professor of English specializing in African American literature and poetry at the University of South Alabama.