“Black Sisyphus” is the debut collection of poetry by the philosopher-poet John Gillespie Jr. that gets to the heart of black existence. By weaving together the poetic and the autobiographical “Black Sisyphus” gives breadth and lyric to the experience of anti-black violence, love, depression, suicidal ideation, anxiety, dread, and redemption. The book is divided into five sections that, in the spirit of Audre Lorde’s Zami: A New Spelling of My Name, pushes the boundaries of the genre of poetry, biography, and mythography in order to give the birth to the figure of “Black Sisyphus.”