Legendary folk singer, activist, and Rock and Roll Hall of Famer Joan Baez has announced she is releasing her first book of poetry When You See My Mother, Ask Her to Dance – out April 30.
Joan Baez, a Staten Island native, is a dynamic force of nature. Her commitment to music and social activism has earned global recognition, ranging from induction into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, to the Ambassador of Conscience Award – Amnesty International’s highest honor. Her repertoire often included songs of protest and social justice, now retired from active performing since 2019. She has devoted much of her time to the “Mischief Makers” series of paintings that immortalize risk-taking visionaries she has known from Dr. Martin Luther King and Bob Dylan to the Dalai Lama and Patti Smith. Last year she published her book of drawings – Am I Pretty When I Fly?
An “intimate, autobiographical poetry collection,” the book contains poems for or about artists like Bob Dylan, Judy Collins, and Jimi Hendrix. She has been writing poetry for decades, according to the publication announcement, as “poems about her life, her family, about her passions for nature and art, have piled up in notebooks and on scraps of paper.”
The book’s description states “This collection is an inspiring personal diary in the form of poetry,” tugging on your heartstrings with its profound impact. Bernie Taupin, another Rock and Roll Hall of Famer, describes her words as “both poignantly executed and captivating in a colorful closeness that pin-points the chinks in our armor that mirror all facets of the world we inhabit,” while Gabriel Byrne, author of Walking with Ghosts calls her verses “simple and elegant [that] resonates with profound insight into what it means to be alive.”
For more information and to purchase When You See My Mother, Ask Her To Dance, visit here.
