This book features Eileen Tabios (editor of The Asian Pacific American Journal) discussing the development of a particular poem(s) (featuring early drafts leading to the final draft of a poem) with some of the countkry's leading poets: Meena Alexander, Indran Amirthanayagam, Mei-mei Berssenbrugge, Luis Cabalquinto, Marilyn Chin, Sesshu Foster, Jessica Hagedorn, Kimiko Hahn, Garrett Hongo, Li-Young Lee, Timothy Liu, David Mura, Arthur Sze (who also provides an introductory essay), and John Yau. Black Lightning is the first ever publication of poetry-in-progress articles showcasing Asian American poets. Though the focus of the book is on Asian American poets, Black Lightning is also believed to be the first collection ever of poetry-in-progress articles that actually feature the drafting stages of the subject poems. Thus, is an invaluable addition to creative writing and poetry literature in general.