Coconut

Coconut by Nisha Patel

A powerful debut by one of Canada’s best slam poets.

In her debut collection, Canadian National Slam Champion Nisha Patel commands her formidable insight and youthful, engaged voice to relay experiences of racism, sexuality, empowerment, grief, and love. These are vitally political, feminist poems for young women of colour, with bold portrayals of confession, hurt, and healing. Coconut rises fiercely like the sun. These poems bestow light and warmth and the ability to witness the world, but they ask for more than basking; they ask readers to grow and warn that they can be burnt. Above all, Nisha Patel’s work questions and challenges propriety and what it means to be a good woman, second-generation immigrant, daughter, consumer, and lover.

ADDITIONAL SALES POINTS

• Author is the current Poet Laureate of Edmonton and the Canadian Individual Slam Champion. • Collection will appeal to those who enjoy slam poetry.

MARKETING PLAN

• Early digital ARC and international press release mailout. • Announcement of book’s release by email newsletter and on the NeWest Press Facebook, Instragram, and Twitter pages. • Podcast reading/interview posted on iTunes, RSS feed, Facebook, and NeWest website. • Press releases and review mailouts to various CBC outlets across the nation, both radio and television. • Submit to all eligible awards. • Ads in subTerrain, Alberta Views, Prairie Books Now, CNQ: Canadian Notes and Queries, Glass Buffalo, PRISM international, and Prairie Fire. • Launch events in Edmonton, Calgary, and Vancouver, as well as online. Trade Paperback / April 1, 2021

isbn 10: 1-77439-023-X

isbn 13: 978-177439-023-8

BISAC 1: POE023040 BISAC 2: POE011000 BISAC 3: POE023000

Part of the Crow Said Poetry Series. Notable Crow Said Poetry titles include That Light Feeling Under Your Feet by Kayla Geitzler, Lullabies in the Real World by Meredith Quartermain, and The Response of Weeds by Bertrand Bickersteth.

About The Author

Nisha Patel is an award-winning queer poet and artist. She is the City of Edmonton’s 8th Poet Laureate, and the Canadian Individual Slam Champion. She is a recipient of the Edmonton Artists’ Trust Fund Award. She is also the founder of Moon Jelly House, a publishing house centering the voices of marginalized poets. Nisha is committed to furthering her goals of reaching audiences that need it. Her poetry focuses strongly on her struggles and triumphs alike.

100 pp / 5.5 x 9 / $19.95 cdn $14.95 usd

MARKETS

• National trade: poetry • US and UK trade: poetry • Edmonton, AB, and India

COMPARISON TITLES

• Even This Page Is White by Vivek Shraya (978-1-551526-41-6, Arsenal Pulp Press, 2016) • Re-Origin of Species by Naccarato Alessandra (978-1-771665-42-1, Book*hug, 2019) • One Day We’ll All Be Dead and None of This Will Matter by Scaachi Koul (978-0-385685-37-5, Doubleday Canada, 2018)