The New York Times recently asked the eight authors pictured above—all former 92nd Street Y guests—for reading recommendations. Novelist Edwidge Danticat, who will be reading here September 20, recommends J. M. Coetzee and Nikki Giovanni:

I have a 2-year-old daughter, so my reading time has been considerably reduced in the past several months. A few weeks ago, however, after my daughter went to bed, I picked up J. M. Coetzee’s “Disgrace,” which I had been opening and closing and flipping through for nearly a year. Once I made my way into the first chapter, I simply couldn’t put it down. So many powerful questions are raised in this stunning and devastating tale of complicated relationships in post-apartheid South Africa. It made me want to read all of Coetzee’s work, which I hope one day to have time for.

In the meantime, I am reading more contemporary poetry, especially the work of Nikki Giovanni, one of my favorites. The poems in her recent collection “Acolytes” range from odes to the singer Nina Simone and the poet June Jordan to a meditation on the best midnight snack (something a sleep-deprived mother can truly appreciate). The fire, eloquence and lyricism in these poems show why Giovanni was able to turn tears into cheers at an April 17 convocation following the Virginia Tech massacre. In what seems like a direct address to writer-readers, in one poem she outlines a possible mantra:

     We seek and hide
     We break and mend
     We teach and learn
     We write

The new 92nd Street Y Unterberg Poetry Center season goes on sale August 2.