aja monet Poetry Collection ‘Florida Water’ out June 3rd via Haymarket Books

Surrealist blues poet and cultural worker aja monet has announced her latest collection, Florida Water, is set for release June 3rd via Haymarket Books. Florida Water, the highly anticipated follow-up to her acclaimed debut My Mother Was A Freedom Fighter and her Grammy-nominated album When The Poems Do What They Do (where a handful of poems in the new collection made their debut), immerses us deeper into the currents of memory, struggle, and survival that pull us toward both despair and hope.

States monet:

“These poems are a vulnerable meditation as I reflect on migrating to South Florida in search of love, connection, and belonging, unearthing the delicate balance between the poet, lover, and community organizer.”

In Florida Water, each poem is an artifact—an offering from her time spent wading through the rising tides of climate change, heartbreak, and systemic violence. Florida Water is a collection of poems that, like the cleansing waters of spiritual baths, rinse, reflect, and reveal the raw truths that lie within.

Since cutting her teeth within the walls of the legendary Nuyorican Poets Café, where she won the title of Grand Slam Champion in 2007 at age 19, making her the youngest Grand Slam Champion in the venue’s history, monet has emerged as a singular artist fluidly moving between mediums. Her organization and activism efforts manifest as part of a process toward liberation, with her poems, music, and art she serves as the scribe of our time.

After graduating from Sarah Lawrence College and the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, aja co-edited Chorus: A Literary Mixtape alongside poet-actor-director Saul Williams and published her first full-length poetry collection, My Mother Was A Freedom Fighter, with Haymarket Books in 2017. She followed up with the Grammy-nominated album When The Poems Do What They Do, a unique and stunning fusion of jazz and poetry, in 2023 to widespread acclaim, including New York Times, NPR, LA Times, Pitchfork, and more.

aja monet ‘Florida Water’ poetry collection artwork