Everyday People

By Kevin Coval

"Kevin Coval is a new, glowing voice in the world of literature. He writes- indeed, speaks, for it is his voice we hear singing. It is a bleak and dangerous time for all mankind. And yet, we shall, despite horrendous evidence, prevail and survive- and hopefully, grow as we glow on hearing his eloquent tribute to our species. In Kevin Coval's voice is our hope for a new world of peace, grace and beauty." —Studs Terkel

"A hip-hop writer writing against type, given his white, Jewish, suburban origins, Coval is more seasoned and tapped into the depths of Chicago life and literature in his second collection, following the bristling Slingshots (2006). In Sunrise and a towering tribute to Jane Addams, he's a veritable reincarnation of Carl Sandburg, only now the city's stalwart workers are toiling in the death / of industry. Coval's affinity for Chicago's crazy-quilt of ethnicities and races, the dreams of immigrants and seekers, infuse his poems with lamentation and exaltation as he celebrates uniqueness and commonality. Funny, sexy, and empathic, he riffs on the knot of family and the revelations kicked up by chance encounters, meditates on America's sorrows and beauty as he rides cross-country trains and a subway that rises from the shadows to the light on elevating tracks. Curious about everyone's story, Coval is an enemy of complacence and a believer in cross-pollination, and like the corner store he describes, his well-stocked poems contain beef jerky and sandalwood incense, that is, earth and spirit, body and soul." —Donna Seaman, Booklist

"There is nothing everyday about the brash, unbridled wail of Kevin Coval. A spirited spitter of pinpoint and necessary stanzas, Kevin displays a stunning knowledge of the human heartbeat as well as the frailties and strengths of those of us tied to its drum. Blessed with a signature voice is that shaman/lyricist/rebel/teacher, KC is at the forefront of a new aesthetic, Everyday People is the revolutionary rulebook that has come to guide us, non too gently, into an era that will change everything." —Patricia Smith