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New in Poetry: Terrance Hayes’ double book release, Carl Phillips’ “Seven Meditations”
By JORDANNAH ELIZABETH Special to the AmNews
There is nothing like Black poetry: soulful styles, syncopated beats within the middle and end of each line—making each stanza an adventure jumping from one artistic declaration to the next. Black poets have so much ground to cover, in a good way, that their breadth of Black life expertise goes beyond knowing what is going on around them and inside, but also a knowledge of how to express it in such a way that evokes chills, love, disturbing visions, singular spiritual ideologies, and simple daily losses and wins. Two of the best, Terance Hayes and Carl Phillips, have new poetic offerings due out this summer. How Hayes was able to finesse having two poetry books released on the same day, July 25, by the same publisher is a mystery that very few may uncover. Nonetheless, the fact is that he achieved it.
Another poetic titan, Carl Phillips has a new collection to be published next month. “My Trade Is Mystery: Seven Meditations from a Life in Writing,” is a lovely collection of what are described as meditations on Phillips’ four decades of living the “writer’s life,” as he gives thoughts on his longevity as a writer, and his wealth of knowledge as a mentor to several emerging poets. The book is calming, healing and full of intelligent, elegant writing and wisdom.
Hayes’ books, “So To Speak” and “Watch Your
Language: Visual and Literary Reflections on a Century of American Poetry,” differ as the former stands as his seventh collection of literary poetry where he weaves his African American folklor- ic meanderings masterfully. The latter is a collection of visually striking prose along with an array of colorful imagery melded with his witty, bright and profoundly interesting wordplay.
All three books are gifts to the Black American literary canon, and we should be so lucky to read more and more work, while returning to these collections often, as the future unfolds.