"Danae Younge’s poems are luminous moments of contemplation, like finely polished pearls that draw wisdom from difficulty. This collection is attentive to musicality and movement across the page, with a delicately constructed arc. Playful with time and language even in somber examinations, Younge’s work speaks to one’s physical connection to history, identity, and relationships, asking what it means to take charge of one’s own body in the world. What is said, what is not said, and what is redacted? How do we recognize the beginning, except through tracing its reverberations backward in time? In these poems, memories unfold in unexpected ways—the speaker finds power in claiming her biracial identity, learns the many names of hair, and seeks her father’s voice in the pit of nectarous fruit. Danae Younge is a poet whose work is wrought with tenderness and strength."

—Marci Calabretta Cancio-Bello, author of three-time award-winning collection Hour of the Ox

“Younge emerges in Melanin Sun (−) Blind Spots as a fully-formed poet, one who carefully uses formal experimentation to challenge the limits of language, labels, and binaries. By invoking realms that exist beyond language, these poems entice the reader to imagine transcendent spaces, even as they sharply highlight the confines of our world.”

—Joshua Jennifer Espinoza, author of There Should Be Flowers