Uniquely Unspecial

from William F. Devault, US National Beat Poet Laureate Emeritus: In the Spring 0f 2023, I was fortunate enough to sit on the judging panel that encountered the works of Patricia Nwoko, a young Nigerian-American poet at Morgantown High School in Morgantown West Virginia. In the inaugural (deep breath) Morgantown High School William F. DeVault Venetian Spider Press Poetry contest, her submission of three poems was incredible. What I and the other judges, Daniel McTaggart (the West Virginia Beat Poet Laureate Emeritus) and John Burroughs (the US National Beat Poet Laureate as well as the Ohio State Beat Poet Laureate Emeritus), agreed on was the quality and maturity of her work. While not losing focus on her experiences and life as young Black woman, she had a maturity and clarity to her work that well exceeded the pale platitudes of so much modern poetry. It was refreshing and a bit terrifying...while writers and artists can celebrate excellence in a newcomer, there is also a natural instinct to be discomforted by someone with a fraction of your life and artistic experience being advanced beyond where you were at that age. Yeah, I kind of felt like a Neanderthal seeing a modern human walking in and sitting down. Once we awarded her first prize (which included the publication of this book) and I had seen the contents of this book a few months later, I was gratified and growing at peace with her excellent verse and expression. One always worries about what happens if the manuscript is not up to par with the samples provided, but I was very relieved by the manuscript. Demonstrating a grace and maturity in her expression and presentation, I admit her manuscript was superior to most books that come across my desk. Whether expressing her life as a young woman or reflecting on how perceptions wound her, she is bold, crisp, and resonance. We at Venetian Spider Press are grateful to get to publish this, her first book, and hope it finds it ways onto the bookshelves and hearts of readers across the nation and around the world.