This is a book meant to make a difference; proceeds from every sale of Acknowledge: An Anthology of Selected Poems from The Contributor will be donated to the street paper The Contributor. Acknowledge gives voice to our homeless neighbors. Voices that will fill you with warmth, sadness, courage, and much, much joy. For instance, how could a raccoon become so important? Ever know a dog named Sneakers? What exactly is a "Cadillac turn"? Heard of a Sunflower Hubcap?

"ACKNOWLEDGE: An Anthology of Selected Poems from The Contributor collects poems from the seven years that The Contributors’ poetry section has been published. The writers are the homeless and formerly homeless vendors of the street paper located in Nashville, TN. The vendors are old and young, man and woman, both native to Nashville and not. The poems present human perspectives on homelessness and daily life in the words of those most affected. Our intention at Third Man Books is, of course, to bolster awareness of The Contributor and raise funds for its vendors. We encourage all to continue to purchase papers from vendors whenever possible."—Joshua Gillis, editor

"Since its first issue in 2007, The Contributor, located in Nashville, Tennessee, has published poetry by Contributor supporters, homeless advocates, and most notably the homeless and formerly homeless vendors who sell the street newspaper. Vendor poetry became a part of my life when I joined its staff as the editorial assistant at the end of 2011. For years, I typed up poetry written on fast food napkins, crisp notebook paper, and stained scraps of flyers, receipts and medical documents. I read poetry emailed from downtown library computers, mailed from Pennsylvania typewriters, and scribbled in marker five minutes before we closed our doors for the day. I’ve always preached that our poetry section is the most powerful and interesting work within The Contributor pages because of both the brash honesty and the opportunity for empowerment." —Linda Bailey, assistant editor at The Contributor.

• PURCHASE Acknowledge here.
• DONATE directly to The Contributor here.
• VIEW the photoset from An Evening with Poets from the Contributor here.

A few important facts about both the anthology and The Contributor:

*Acknowledge features 38 different poets, all homeless or formerly homeless vendors of The Contributor.

*The Contributor is a nonprofit. Provides 300+ active homeless and formerly homeless newspaper vendors with a pathway to earn income.

*The Contributor is the largest street newspaper per capita in the world, with nearly 6 million copies sold and $1.5 million invested by vendors in their paper sale micro-businesses since 2007.

*Three poets, Wayne Walden, Chris Scott, and David S. Pointer from The Contributor’s pages have gone on to publish full length books.

*One of The Contributor’s Poets, Jennifer A. was awarded the International Network of Street Papers (INSP) "Best Vendor Submission" for her poem, "A Late Dinner with my Son." Her submission was chosen from other vendor submissions from street newspapers around the world. The poem is featured in Acknowledge.

*The street newspaper is published weekly and averages a monthly circulation of 60,000 copies

*The Contributor has received coverage from NPR, The New York Times, USA Today, The Tennessean, The Nashville Scene, and local TV.