What future do you dream of living in, of creating?
As Kerrie Joy closes the chapter on her time as Adams County Poet Laureate, she invites each of us to reflect on this question while offering her own vision of what’s possible.
“Yes, we should fight for what we wish and love, but we should also give way to peace,” writes Kerrie Joy in the August edition of KJoy Magazine. “Because on the other side we might meet a world more beautiful than we could ever imagine.”
The world can be hard. Yet, alongside the difficulties and challenges we face, both individually and collectively, there can also be softness.
Here are 13 books Kerrie Joy recommends to help you tap into that softness and tenderness, and to imagine, shape, and step into your peace and liberation:
- “The Myth of Normal” by Gabor Maté, MD with Daniel Maté
- “Emergent Strategy” by Adrienne Maree Brown
- “Rest is Resistance” by Tricia Hersey
- “Walk” by Jonathon Stalls
- “The Stars and the Blackness Between Them” by Junauda Petrus
- “The Prophet” by Kahlil Gibran
- “Black Girl in Paris” by Shay Youngblood
- “You Are Here” by Thich Nhat Hanh
- “The Water Dancer” by Ta-Nehisi Coates
- “This is the Honey” edited by Kwame Alexander
- “You Better Be Lightning” by Andrea Gibson
- “Black Girl, Call Home” by Jasmine Mans
- “Bluff” by Danez Smith
What future will you create?
Kerrie Joy’s time as Adams County Poet Laureate may be ending, but her vision, art, and voice are still shaping what’s possible. Keep the inspiration flowing — sign up for the KJoy magazine and join her Patreon to be part of the community building a beautiful, liberated future.
