These Are the Breaks: Essays and Poems by Idris Goodwin

These Are The Breaks is the groundbreaking essay collection of NEA award-winning playwright, HBO Def Poet, and critically acclaimed rapper Idris Goodwin.

A rhythmic blend of biting wit and break-beat poetry, Goodwin's prose pulses with purpose. Remixing broken dreams and distorted legacies, he cross-fades past and present, personal and political. Diverse in scope and wickedly satirical, these poetic essays sample race, class, and culture — transcending the page with hip-hop musicality.

These Are The Breaks is the literary mixtape of our cacophonous times. Take the time to listen.

Together with other transplanted black boys, my brother and I piled in the Ford Festiva, anxious for escape. We blasted Esham, howled devilish laughter as we raced through the sleepy streets, the same streets that saved us from all we fetishized.

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Idris Goodwin was born in Detroit, Michigan. He earned a Bachelor of Arts in Film, Video, and Screenwriting at Columbia College Chicago. Goodwin received his Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. He completed graduate work at the University of Iowa Playwrights Workshop.