media coverage

Poet Kwame Alexander reflects on 'Why Fathers Cry at Night' | "I'm not a grown man — I'm a growing man," Alexander says. His new memoir started as a book of love poems, but ended up being a collection of essays and poems about love, divorce and raising children. [...] read more

“Offers a refreshing masculine vulnerability that is rarely seen.” The Washington Post reviews Why Fathers Cry at Night . [...] read more

"Kwame Alexander delivers us a powerful and intimate memoir-in-verse. Emily Dickenson once said, “Tell all the Truth but tell it slant.” Alexander works his life into his poetry to help us reflect on our own lives. A memoir in a book of poetry — a most sublime gift. Keep reading for a BN Reads guest post from Kwame Alexander about the things he’s learned as a father and what inspired him to write Why Fathers Cry at Night , plus a reading of the poem that inspired the title." [...] read more

“The memoir is at once tender and honest, and Alexander doesn’t pretend to have all the answers.” Shondaland speaks with Kwame about finding grace, falling deep in love, his relationship with Nikki Giovanni, and how grief and loss can push you further into community. [...] read more

“We sometimes find poems in the strangest and most uncomfortable places,” Alexander writes in this tender memoir, employing poetry, prose, letters and recipes to tell stories of love and grief . The New York Times Book Review features Why Fathers Cry at Night in New Books This Week. [...] read more

"Alexander paints a vulnerable and honest look at the myriad kinds of love." BookRiot features Why Fathers Cry at Night in Best Books Out This Week. [...] read more

"From the second we are born, the experience with food is connected to being held, the warmth of our mother’s skin, her soothing voice. Scientists say that all these experiences are encoded in our infant nervous system as a single event of idyllic tenderness. Later, as adults, the ritual of breaking bread around a table is how we share the things that matter most with the people who matter most to us. I fell hard in love with both of your mothers over a homemade meal. Since I was a child, I’ve [...] read more

Poets & Writers weekly installment of Ten Questions features Kwame Alexander , whose new book, Why Fathers Cry at Night: A Memoir in Love Poems, Recipes, Letters, and Remembrances , is out now from Little, Brown and Company. [...] read more

Kwame joins WNYC's All of It host Alison Stewart to discuss his new memoir, Why Fathers Cry at Night: A Memoir in Love Poems, Letters, Recipes, and Remembrances , which tells the story of his parents, and his own journey as a father. [...] read more

Kwame Alexander: What My Father Taught Me About Love | Kwame speaks with Paternal podcast host Nicholas Firchau about Why Fathers Cry at Night and reconsidering relationships from his past, including what exactly he knows - and doesn’t know - about love. [...] read more

"Kwame Alexander's memoir began as a book of love poem but morphed into so much more" NPR's Michel Martin speaks with author Kwame Alexander about his new book: Why Fathers Cry at Night: A Memoir in Love Poems, Recipes, Letters, and Remembrances . [...] read more

"To Be Loved Like That" with Kwame Alexander | Our most precious relationships are often our most complicated, aren’t they? Poet and bestselling author Kwame Alexander wrote an honest book of poems and essays that name the difficult and beautiful and heart-wrenching conversations we have (or should be having) with the people we love and with the ones who love us. [...] read more