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THE BLACK MARIA makes The New Yorker's list of 'Books We Loved in 2016'
Aracelis Girmay's new collection the black maria made The New Yorker's list of "The Books We Loved in 2016," where New Yorker contributors share their personal "best lists" of books for the year.The book comes highly recommended by Ada Limón, who says, "This year, I’ve sought out and found solace in language, both poetry and prose. Aracelis Girmay’s the black maria has left images still planted deep within me.the black maria has also been named a "Best Book of 2016" in recent weeks by The Boston Globe, Publishers Weekly, and the Chicago Review of Books.Click here for The New Yorker's complete list of...
The Boston Globe names THE BLACK MARIA a "Best Book of 2016"
The Boston Globe named Aracelis Girmay's new collection the black maria a "Best Book of 2016"!In good company, Girmay shares the honor with other highly acclaimed poets, including Sharon Olds, Etel Adnan, Kevin Young, Athena Farrokhzad, Ishion Hutchinson, Tyehimba Jess, Fred Moten, Solmaz Sharif, and Ocean Vuong.According to Globe reviewer John Freeman, "The long history of abuse against African Americans threads through this latest excavation by Girmay, whose work always lays bare the importance of history and the vertigo caused by its unknowing."Click here to view The Boston Globe's entire list of the "Best Books of 2016."the black maria is available at the BOA Bookstore. Purchase your copy before...
Plume calls THE BLACK MARIA 'ambitious in both form and sweep'
Plume reviews editor Adam Tavel just released a new review of Aracelis Girmay's the black maria, calling the collection "ambitious in both form and sweep."Tavel compares the collection to "the experimental reach of Charles Olson, the syntactic inventiveness of Marianne Moore, and the historical engagement of Robert Hayden," as it "simultaneously mourns the vile legacy of African slavery while celebrating the dignified endurance of the African diaspora."According to the review, "Girmay proves herself a distinctly original lyric voice . . . the black maria elegizes the dehumanizing effects of colonialism and institutionalized racism, yet champions the documentary power of language to...
Boston Review calls THE BLACK MARIA a 'poeticized eulogy'
Boston Review included Aracelis Girmay's the black maria in its "Fall Poetry Reading" feature, with a thorough review by Cassandra Balzer. Calling Girmay "a poet of both physical and metaphysical loss," the review notes the collection's mission of "[synthesizing] accounts of the Eritrean diaspora in order to understand place and experience in the 21st century."According to the review, "Girmay fastens herself to the idea of water—its power to both unify and alienate—as a vehicle for exploring loss, ancestry, and identity. The title, taken from a term for lunar 'maria'—the moon’s dark plains once thought to be seas—provides the imagistic thrust of...
BUST calls THE BOOK OF GOODBYES 'gloriously sassy'
BUST Magazine published a rave new review of Jillian Weise's The Book of Goodbyes in its latest issue, as part of its feature "Amber Tamblyn's Poetry Corner."In a glowing assessment of the collection, reviewer Tamblyn says: "If you haven’t read The Book of Goodbyes (BOA Editions) by Jillian Weise, get thee to a slinger of literature, STAT. The theme of this gloriously sassy and direct collection is strength—inward and outward, metaphysical and metaphorical. There’s no victimization in Weise’s writing, only observational wit about the crippled world that surrounds her. . . . Weise is a BUST kind of girl: fearless, flawed, and oh so...