Soup for the Storm, from acclaimed American poet Tony Robles, is a departure from his earlier work in its immediacy and urgency. While his previous collections-including
Thrift Store Metamorphosis and
Where the Warehouse Things Are-explore identity, labor, place, and memory, this newest volume centers on survival, shared grief, and unexpected beauty born out of an environmental catastrophe.
In Robles's own words: "This collection is based on my experiences and observations as someone who witnessed the 2024 Hurricane Helene and its impact on the community, particularly my mobile home community in Hendersonville, North Carolina. I wrote some of the poems while we were in the midst of the hurricane, by candlelight; they weren't all written after the storm. I saw people come together to build community in the aftermath. I felt, as a poet, that it was my obligation to be a witness and to document this tragedy and how the people I lived near and beyond dealt with it."
Robles began writing as a member of the speech team at George Washington High School in San Francisco, encouraged by mentors who instilled in him a reverence for the written word. Influenced by Langston Hughes, Gil Scott-Heron, and his late uncle, poet Al Robles, he has long blended personal narrative with social consciousness.
In this new collection, that blend takes on fresh intensity: "It is my hope that
Soup for the Storm provides the sustenance to reflect on the tragedy and perhaps come away with something that resembles beauty despite it."
The book will resonate with poetry readers and with anyone processing environmental devastation. Through spare, observant verse, Robles offers not only testimony but also nourishment-words as comfort, words as record.
Robles will donate a portion of the proceeds from the collection to organizations that provide relief to Hurricane Helene survivors.
