
Tupac Shakur’s Unpublished Childhood Poetry is Up for Auction
Tupac Shakur wrote a booklet of haikus when he was 11 for his imprisoned Black Panther godfather, Jamal Joseph, and that booklet is now up for auction at Sotheby’s. His childhood poems dealt with Black liberation, masculinity, and other themes that he explored in his adult work. He signed the booklet, “Tupac Shakur, Future Freedom Fighter.”
Tupac Shakur is one of the most influential rappers of all time. He died in 1996 at 25 years old from a drive-by shooting.
The auction, titled The Art and Influence of Hip Hop, includes items from many well-known hip hop artists, and also includes love letters from Tupac Shakur to high school sweetheart Cosima. The poetry booklet is estimated to sell for $300,000.
Find out more at Forbes.
Find more news and stories of interest from the book world in Breaking in Books.
More breaking news here
- Read the Best of SFF with the 2025 Locus Awards Finalists
- The Most Read Books on Goodreads in April 2025
- The New York Public Library’s Best New Poetry Books
- The Bestselling Books of the Week, According to All the Lists
- Bookshop.org’s Bestselling Books of the Week
- This Year’s Los Angeles Times Book Prize Winners
- The Most Read Books on Goodreads This Week
- Finalists for the 2025 Young Lions Fiction Award Announced by The New York Public Library
- The Most Read Books on Goodreads This Week
- The Most Read Books on Goodreads This Week