Necessary Kindling: Poems - Hardcover

Ahmad, Anjail Rashida

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0807127132 ISBN 13: 9780807127131

Publisher: Louisiana State Univ Pr, 2001

Synopsis

Using the necessary kindling of unflinching memory and fearless observation, anjail rashida ahmad ignites a slow-burning rage at the generations-long shadow under which African-American woman have struggled, and sparks a hope that illuminates "how the acts of women-- / loving themselves-- / can keep the spirit / renewed." Fueling the poet's fire--sometimes angry-voiced but always poised and graceful--are memories of her grandmother; a son who "hangs / between heaven and earth / as though he belonged / to neither"; and ancestral singers, bluesmen and -women who "burst the new world," creating jazz for the African woman "half-stripped of her culture."

In free verses jazzy yet exacting in imagery and thought, ahmad explores the tension between the burden of heritage and fierce pride in tradition. The poet's daughter reminds her of the power that language, especially naming, has to bind, to heal; "she's giving part of my name to her own child, / looping us into that intricate tapestry of women's names / singing themselves."

Through gripping narratives, indelible character portraits, and the interplay of cultural and family history, ahmad enfolds readers in the strong weave of a common humanity. Her brilliant and endlessly prolific generation of metaphor shows us that language can gather from any life experience--searing or joyful--"the necessary kindling / that will light our way home."

About this title

About the Author:

anjail rashida ahmad's poems have appeared in MIDLANDS, AFRICAN AMERICAN REVIEW, BLACK SCHOLAR, and ARK/ANGEL REVIEW among other publications. necessary kindling is her first book. She currently teaches at the University of Missouri in Columbia.

From Publishers Weekly:

"[H]er dreams gather,/ in the mouths of ancestors,/ whispering the bitter code/ of what is possible," writes Ahmad, awarded the Janet Preston Prize by the Academy of American Poets, in this dignified, searing homage to African-American women, and the speaker's family members specifically. Describing one woman carrying "the long harp of her bones/ hardened like the inner shell/ of an unobtrusive mollusk/ singing to itself," the poet evinces the weight of history, endurance, carefully chosen words, self-protection and self-sacrifice. (Sept.)
Copyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc.

About this edition

• Publisher: Louisiana State Univ Pr
• Publication date: 2001
• ISBN 10: 0807127132
• ISBN 13: 9780807127131
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 64