Research Guides: Homelessness: Poetry & Photography

Diversity & Equity Initiative

The books on this page were funded by a Diversity and Equity Initiative (DEI) Award from the University of Hawai‘i Office of Student Equity, Excellence and Diversity (SEED). Honolulu Community College Library received a DEI grant in 2014 for "Humanizing the Homeless: Library Materials to Promote Understanding."

These books may be checked out for 28 days.

Sample Photos

Patricia and her dog Indy
Patricia is a former addict, she got clean in prison.
Photo from What I Keep by Susan Mullally

Daniel and Stacy, expectant parents
Stacy left an abusive home. Her preganancy is high-risk.
Daniel is looking for a job to support them. He's never been out of work before.
Photo from Homeless: Portraits of Americans in Hard Times by Howard Schatz

Photography

Hard Ground by photographs by Michael O'Brien; poems by Tom Waits
Call Number: Oversize HV4505 .O25 2011
ISBN: 9780292726499
Publication Date: 2011
Award-winning photographer Michael O'Brien and Tom Waits, described by the New York Times as the "poet of outcasts", present a portrait of homelessness that impels the reader to look into the eyes of people who live "on the hard ground" and recognize our common humanity. Hard Ground presents both the trials of homelessness and the resilience of people who survive on the streets.
The Street: a Journey Into Homelessness by B. J. Lacasse
Call Number: HV4506.F67 L33 2012
ISBN: 9780875655000
Publication Date: 2012
B. J. Lacasse photographed the homeless of Fort Worth, Texas, to help the rest of us see and understand those we usually try to ignore. In addition to taking photographs, Lacasse got to know her homeless subjects, and kept a journal of their stories and her observations.
What I Keep: Photographs of the New Face of Homelessness and Poverty by Susan Mullally
Call Number: HV4506.W13 M85 2010
ISBN: 9781602583160
Publication Date: 2010
Susan Mullally photographed the members of the Church Under the Bridge in Waco, Texas, a nondenominational, multicultural church that has been meeting below an Interstate overpass for 16 years. While these individuals have experienced homelessness or incarceration, drug or alcohol addiction, mental illness, profound poverty, and, almost always, deep periods of hopelessness, their portraits present them with dignity and respect. Each person holds a personal item in his or her photograph, the one thing that he or she keeps while struggling to survive.
Homeless: Portraits of Americans in Hard Times by Photographs by Howard Schatz; Beverly J. Ornstein, project director and editor); design by Milton Glaser
Call Number: Oversize HV4505 .S3 1993
ISBN: 9780811805124
Publication Date: 1993
Schatz's photographs of San Francisco's homeless capture the people, not just their plight. The portraits are accompanied by interview transcripts that tell the subjects' stories of how they got to where they are.

Poetry

Dark Waters by James Allison
Call Number: PS3551.L4546 D37 2012
ISBN: 9781462667291
Publication Date: 2012
James Allison was homeless for 2 years. He captured this period in his poems. He says, "These are my experiences, my ups and my downs... This book is a tribute to the human spirit and our will to survive through almost anything."
The Bones of the Homeless by Judy "Joy" Jones
Call Number: PS3610.O625743 B66 2007
ISBN: 9780977367641
Publication Date: 2007
Through her poems and black-and-white photographs Judy Jones Jones conveys the plight of the homeless in different voices, echoing the thoughts of people on the streets, unfeeling passersby, and compassionate observers.
Empty Shoes: Poems on the Hungry and the Homeless by selected and edited by Patrick T. Randolph
Call Number: PN6110.S56 E47 2009
ISBN: 9781449517793
Publication Date: 2009
150 poems about hunger and homelessness, donated by 80 different poets, many of whom have direct experiences with homelessness. Some of the poets have worked with or advocated for the homeless. Some of them have been homeless themselves.

Poem: Homeless Wanderer

At night I sleep in abandoned cars
That smell of loss and sweat.

I lie inside these paupers' tombs
Just one among a crowd
On a narrow, dead-end street
Where no U-turns are allowed.

I'm like the child whose tongue
Is frozen on the ice--
No one can bear to look
As he struggles to free himself.

Except, of course, for each of you
Who talk but fail to see that
You could become the wanderer
And sleep right next to me.

by Susan Kileen
in Empty Shoes: Poems on the Hungry and the Homeless