I Have Come Forth By Day:
A Woman’s Evolution
by Chantay Legacy Leonard

$12.00

CELEBRATED DETROIT WRITER AND ARTIST DEBUTS FIRST BOOK OF POETRY

Poet Speaks Of Triumph and Life After Struggle

Detroit – December 16, 2011—Detroit native, writer, and performance poet and activist Chantay Legacy Leonard premiers her first book of poetry. Available now on Moore Black Press, the book titled, I Have Come Forth by Day: A Woman’s Evolution, is a heartfelt collection of poems that copes with the struggles, lessons, and triumphs of self-discovery, growing into womanhood, finding love and evolving humanity.

I Have Come Forth By Day, is an inspiring testament to “healing, restoration and being comfortable in your own skin,” says Leonard, 30, who has battled sexual and physical abuse and cancer at a young age. “These poems talk about what happens after survival, and the right to claiming happiness for your self.” Leonard is one of the founding members of the literary and performance group, Black Ink Collective and serves as the Vice President of Strange Fruits Inc., a national all woman non-profit arts and performance collective. Leonard’s passion for women’s expression and development is an inspiration to her book.

Leonard is a strong feminine voice on stage, and her literary work has been featured in

Stanford University's “Black Arts Quarterly,” Poetry Slam Inc.'s “Estrology,” “The Bandana Republic” and other publications. In 2009, she featured in the staged reading of “The Revolution’s In the Ladies Room” produced by jessica Care moore.

As a performance poet, Leonard has commanded stages with poetic icons The Last Poets, Amiri Baraka, Aurora Harris, Khary Kimani Turner and others. She has performed at numerous colleges and universities, festivals, and showcases spanning from New York’s Bowery Poetry Club to California’s University of Santa Barbara.

For more information about I Have Come Forth By Day or Leonard, visit www.legacyleonard.com. For author bookings/publishing information contact: www.mooreblackpress.com