Marcus Wicker’s Book Notes music playlist for his poetry collection Dear Mothership

In the Book Notes series, authors create and discuss a music playlist that relates in some way to their recently published book. Previous contributors include Jesmyn Ward, Lauren Groff, Bret Easton Ellis, Celeste Ng, T.C. Boyle, Dana Spiotta, Hanif Abdurraqib, Andrew Sean Greer, Roxane Gay, and many others. Marcus Wicker’s exceptionally moving poetry collection Dear Mothership spans the personal to the extraterrestrial with intelligence and poise. Morgan Parker wrote of the book: “”In this stunning, adventurous third collection, Marcus Wicker is yet again in full command of a dynamic, irresistible voice—pensive, contemporary, and poignant, almost as if to spite its playful side—wielding wordplay and rhythm with the dexterity of a lyricist, and observation with the tenderness and scrutiny of a master poet. I cherished these poems for their attitude, their wisdom, their futuristic Blackness, and their survivor’s guilt. I felt at home with their frustrated awareness, their confessional…