This poetry collection tells stories for those who can’t. Those who are scared. Those who are silenced. Those who need an extra push. black has every right to be angry evinces the notion that Black people—and Black women, especially—are angry, and that this anger is more than justified. Skillfully weaving bloody history lessons, the Black body as scientific experiment, and the contemporary world of police violence, systemic racism, and feminism into the narrative of modern society, Ashley Elizabeth’s gut-punching poems allow space for thought, remembrance, and reflection on the lives taken too soon and what we can do to fight the power.

In bite-sized, Ashley Elizabeth faces one of the most prevalent societal pressures of the patriarchy: body image. In thirteen poems, Elizabeth tells the story of many women growing up surrounded by pressures to fit a certain mold. The mirror morphs into the narrator’s enemy—the community surrounding the narrator, its villainous sidekicks. bite-sized goes from a story of a hero versus a villain, to a web of epiphanies. “i am supposed to like this body,” our hero says, entering the view of the stage lights. You can’t help but root for them.

Welcome home, hon. CHARM(ed) chronicles Baltimore life and grapples with the idea of home and belonging. It also celebrates a city with deep roots, history, and culture—particularly the food. With the added element of photographs, this collection blends visual art and written word as part love letter, part critique of the goings-on in Charm City.

Ashley Elizabeth’s collection, red line, is a testament to the power of the classroom as the emotional center of our lives. Within her words we witness how the cleverness and idiosyncrasies of young students become the lasting part of their identities, how the kindness and patience of a teacher from decades ago will imprint on us and make us rise up to be our better selves. However, it is the raw heart of her grief for children lost to violence and self-harm that truly drives this collection. To read these poems is to learn who we are, to reflect on how precious this life is and know that there are poets and teachers like Ashley to help us along the way. Your next assignment: read this book and grow in its beautiful light.

In her thought-provoking debut full-length collection, A Family Thing, Ashley Elizabeth invites the reader into the depths of her childhood, marked by tragedies including childhood sexual assault, ailing parents, and the loss of innocence. With raw vulnerability, she guides the reader throught the corners of her past, with language that is as haunting as it is cathartic. This collection navigates pain, resilience, and healing through reflecting on what she has lost but also what she has gained: a new-found sense of self and solace despite unimaginable adversity from the people she cared about the most but couldn't care for her. Ashley Elizabeth uncovers the unspeakable and puts it to rest.

Friendships between men and women don’t always last forever… not without someone wanting more. At least, it’s harder not to. It is easy to fall for someone you spend most of your time talking to. This chapbook explores when a relationship turns from friendship to friends with benefits to someone falling in a love that may not be reciprocated.Ten years is a long time to intertwine two souls. From middle school to early adulthood, we survived a lot. For having such searing physical and emotional chemistries, our communication skipped heartbeats with lies and potholes. We’ve been friends for too long. Of course feelings got in the way. Of course I fell for you, and of course I lied about it. Who wouldn’t? I lost you anyway. Published by Nightingale & Sparrow Press, 2020