Writing alum Antoinette Cooper '20 examines the experiences of Black women's bodies in her debut poetry collection Unruly (Legacy Book Press, 2025).
The book weaves together poetry, memoir, and documentary evidence to investigate the intersection of medical trauma and historical erasure, giving voice to both individual and collective experiences. Through a multi-genre approach, it documents the history and present violence of anti-Blackness in social, legal, financial, medical, and countless other systems. From the "mothers of gynecology" to present-day medical discrimination, the collection traces the terrains of personal and ancestral memory.
"Cooper's astonishing debut collection remembers, rewinds and frees the harmed haints to roam the hospitals," writes fellow alum Rodney Terich Leonard '18, author of Sweetgum & Lightning, in his endorsement of the book.
Cooper was born in Jamaica and raised in New York City. Beyond her writing, she works as a TEDx speaker, Collective Trauma Facilitator, and is the founder of Black Exhale, a nonprofit organization dedicated to creating sanctuary spaces for the liberated Black body.
Her work has been featured in The Poetry Foundation, Intima: A Journal of Narrative Medicine, and other publications. In 2022, Cooper was awarded a Winter Literature Grant from The Café Royal Cultural Foundation NYC to support the development of Unruly.
Cooper also currently serves on the advisory board for CUNY's Narrative Medicine program. As part of her commitment to healing collective trauma, Cooper has announced that 10% of the author's proceeds from Unruly will be donated to Black Exhale.
