In A Poet Speaks of Empire, January Nicole Wilson's fourth book of poetry, the author looks at today's Africa on the precipice of great change and tumult. Wilson captures something of the zeitgeist of this new era in Africa. In this book, distinct African countries inspire poems concerning change, growth, wonder and even love. She reveals the continent's great history, including the ancient empires of Ghana, Mali and Songhay, and imagines a future begging for rebirth. As she astutely points out, the rise and fall of empire are only a matter of history. Her studies of political science and African literature, as well as, encounters while living in Ghana have inspired this thought-provoking collection of poetry.

Love Emphatically is an ode to grandparents, mothers, brothers, newborns, friends and lovers January Nicole Wilson has known during her lifetime. The book comes as a reminder that love, in all its shades, is like a deep breath to the soul. With chapters like "Morning Toast," "Shake Loose My Skin," and "Our Rhapsody," this book is a refreshing reflection on the loves of Wilson's life. If you are like her, you are still learning the ropes. Love is nothing new, but something strange and beautiful--something everyone needs to know and to foster. Love Emphatically, the author's fifth book of poetry, is a formidable example of her facility with language and her sensitivity to this subject matter.

Contemplating Eve: The Collected Works celebrates more than ten years of writing & artwork and comprises a complete collection of January Nicole Wilson's work to date. In Contemplating Eve, Wilson ruminates on just what it means to be a contemporary woman. The cover design is one example of the visual musings included in Contemplating Eve. The poetry inside concerns love and love lost; travel and home; nature and identity. Wilson takes a penetrating look at the world that surrounds her in this provocative work.

January Nicole Wilson has again written a thoughtful and provocative collection of poetry with The Lily & The Aster, her third book. In this book, Wilson uses a Japanese form of poetry, the haiku, to communicate her message. Each haiku is a meditation on the love, music and politics that fill her daily life. To borrow the title from her second chapter, time and again her poetry is "a confession of joy." She uses haiku to introduce three travel essays, included in The Lily & The Aster. Each essay tells a gripping story of adventure in three different regions of the world, spanning Europe & Africa.

Filled with lucid and evocative revelations about living and loving, A Dawn Run Hot with Morning is proof positive that life begins at the age of 30. This book of poetry takes the reader on a journey, a quest for answers about love and about self. Faced with wrenching loss, the poetry's narrator emerges, a phoenix from the flames, conscious of her strength and wiser as a result of the experience. At 30, January celebrates life, family, friends and resilience in this thought-provoking work.