Inspired by the word "red," this collection of poems written by black British writers--including both established authors and new, exciting poets--explores the subjects and ideas stirred by a single trigger, from the word's usual associations with blood, violence, passion, and anger, as well as with sensuality and sexuality, to more surprising interpretations such as the link to a particular mood, the quality of light in the sky, the color of skin, and the sound of a song. This remarkable compilation succeeds in generating poems that find an intriguing resonance with each other while also revealing images and themes unique to the individual poets.

Kwame Dawes is an award-winning poet and author who has received the Forward Poetry Prize, the Hollis Summers Poetry Prize, and the Pushcart prize for poetry, among others. He is the author of 12 poetry collections, a short story collection, a play, three critical works, and the novel She's Gone. He lives in Columbia, South Carolina.