Amiri Baraka (1937-2014) was an American writer of poetry, drama, fiction, essays, and music criticism. Some of his most notable poetry collections include Preface to a Twenty Volume Suicide Note (Totem Press/Corinth Books), Transbluesency: The Selected Poems of Amiri Baraka/LeRoi Jones (Marsilio Publishers) and Somebody Blew Up America & Other Poems (House of Nehesi Publishers).