This curated volume of 64 poems by poets from around the world showcases unique, individual voices from myriad cultures, following different migration pathways, and sharing their stories via different poetic styles. Yet there is more of a coherent narrative here than a reader might first expect from a poetry anthology as opposed to a novel in verse. The way the editors have arranged these poems by so many different poets structures the anthology in such a way that a story is told. A story with many voices, but a story nonetheless. The reader is carried along with each poet through their physical and emotional journeys.

This anthology focuses sharply on the fundamental experiences of refugees and immigrants, but it does so in a nuanced way that never shies away from hard truths while still connecting the reader to shared human experiences. For readers who are not immigrants or refugees themselves, this collection deeply humanizes each poet and their lived experiences as first- or second-generation Americans. What these poems all share is an economy of language that still allows their words to take the reader on expansive, unflinching journeys through racism, family trauma, homesickness, lost/found identity, oppression, and the challenge of growing in America up as:

“The one who doesn’t ask to be recognized,

But demands to be known.

The one who presses into her fears to speak out. To stand up. To live.”

(On Being American by Samira Ahmed)  

There are many familiar and award winning names and voices, such as Ocean Vuong, Ada Limón, and Elizabeth Acevedo, in this volume alongside many other perhaps lesser known but still beautifully gifted poets as well. This is a volume to set aside time for, to sit with each poem one at a time, to read and re-read. And read again as we strive to hear:

“the song that says my bones

are your bones, and your bones are my bones,

and isn’t that enough?”

(A New National Anthem by Ada Limón) 

Ink Knows No Borders: Poems of the Immigrant and Refugee Experience

Edited by: Patrice Vecchione and Alyssa Raymond

ISBN: 978-1609809072

Published by: Triangle Square Books for Young Readers

Reviews: Kirkus, School Library Journal interview with the editors (includes recordings of a few of the poets reading their own poems)