In her fourth remarkable collection, Elizabeth Alexander voices the outcries, dreams and histories of an African American tradition that goes back to the slave rebellion on the Amistad and to artists' canvases of 19th century America. In persona poems, historical narratives, jazz riffs, sonnets, elegies and a sequence of arts poetica, Alexander vividly affirms her place as one of America's most lively and gifted writers.

About the Author
Elizabeth Alexander teaches English at Yale University. She is the author of three other poetry collections, The Venus Hottentot, Body of Life and Antebellum Dream.

Reviews
"Alexander, an African American, explores tensions inherent in gender and race and expresses the ambivalence of motherhood in jazz-inflected tones." - ELLE "In narratives sweetened by the lyric pulse and pierced through by felicitous turns of irony, Alexander chronicles the world of 'black and tan'. Her poems bristle with the irresistible quality of a world seen fresh. Race is present in her poems in the way that sex, class, age, even weather are present in all of our lives." - The Washington Post "Alexander is an unusual thing, a sensualist of history, a romanticist of race. She weaves biography, history, experience, pop culture and dream. Her poems make the public and private dance together." - Chicago Tribune"


Awards
Winner of ALA Notable Books (Poetry) 2006. Commended for Connecticut Book Awards (Poetry) 2006.



Book Information
ISBN 9781555974329
Author Elizabeth Alexander
Format Paperback
Page Count 96
Imprint Graywolf Press,U.S.
Publisher Graywolf Press,U.S.