POETRY MONTH: Produce Poetry Or Die. by Narada Voux Sanders
realising i read poetry looking for poets, not poems
Tag: race
Penguin Classics Marvel Collection: Black Panther by various
are superheroes for superzeroes?
Another Country by James Baldwin
another hagiography on Baldwin as scott packs up his north american life
Sula by Toni Morrison
a beautiful novel about the emptiness at the heart of life
Passing by Nella Larsen (Norton Critical Edition)
a stunning harlem renaissance novel; scott muses on the hangover of growing up in a cultural desert
James Baldwin: Collected Essays (Library of America, 1998)
james baldwin is great; vaccines are also great
Just Us: An American Conversation by Claudia Rankine
while we seek relief in schadenfreude over self-esteem, the world will never be fixed
Grievers by adrienne maree brown
great speculative fiction; scott visits quebec city
Clotel or, the President’s Daughter by William Wells Brown
excellent, significant, 19th century anti-slavery novel
Open Water by Caleb Azumah Nelson
an excellent novel; in footnotes my concluding thoughts on the TV series The Affair
Zora Neale Hurston (and a state-mandated medical exam)
in which the canadian state tests me for TB & syphilis
As We Have Always Done by Leanne Betasamosake Simpson
powerful academic text on the impossibility of decolonisation within capitalistic structures
Four Repeater Books (two I recommend)
two excellent books, two not excellent books
Puffin’s Canadian Children’s Classics
read some local children’s fiction; mostly bad
James Baldwin Threeway
baldwin, baldwin, baldwin
Winter in July by Doris Lessing
short stories about non-monogamous colonial types
Some Fragments of Incomplete Lockdown Blogs
Richard Wright in Franco’s Spain and other fragments
Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe
a blog post that fell apart so much i paused the blog for six weeks
The Pale King by David Foster Wallace
hide the dfw; notes on craft & posthumous novels
Jazz by Toni Morrison
redressing a gap in my reading
Cane by Jean Toomer
ok toomer
Obasan by Joy Kogawa
very “literary fiction” literary fiction about WW2 non-Nazi racism
fledging by Octavia E. Butler
vampires yes please and too long sentences
New-Generation African Poets: A Chapbook Boxset (SITA), ed. Kwame Dawes & Chris Abani
a boxset of ten powerful chapbooks
Lift Every Voice, edited by Christine Taylor
little review of a strong anthology
Native Son by Richard Wright
surprisingly good protest novel; thoughts on UK election result
Half-Blood Blues by Esi Edugyan
still working too much; brief notes on celibacy as sexual practice
Notes of a Native Son by James Baldwin
great early[ish] essays from one of america’s best
Cruising by Alex Espinoza
Are you done with the sofa, floor, kitchen table, baby?
Kindred by Octavia E. Butler
I read another great, serious, time travel novel
The Nickel Boys by Colson Whitehead
a solid, if unambitious, novel from a major contemporary voice
Blues For Mister Charlie by James Baldwin
a sad play from JB the master
Three Lives by Gertrude Stein
you absolute Stein
Washington Black by Esi Edugyan
acclaimed canadian steampunky slavery novel
Travels With Myself And Another by Martha Gellhorn
another racist travel book
The Book of Negroes by Lawrence Hill
impressive, emotive, historical
Mixed-Race Superman by Will Harris
glorious, wonderful, contemporary non-fiction
Known and Strange Things by Teju Cole
Teju Cole Me By Your Name
The Intuitionist by Colson Whitehead
Colson Whitehead’s intriguing, if imperfect, debut
Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad
i can’t believe it’s so racist
Africa’s Tarnished Name by Chinua Achebe
a bit of African history and more white opinions on racism #facepalm #alwayspublish
Go Tell It On The Mountain by James Baldwin
there ain’t no fool like a holy fool
Remembering Oluwale: An Anthology edited by SJ Bradley
a powerful anthology of poetry and prose
The Fire Next Time by James Baldwin
gorgeous prose, important content
There Are More Beautiful Things Than Beyoncé by Morgan Parker
v good poems tho a v poor blog post
Why I’m No Longer Talking To White People About Race by Reni Eddo-Lodge
essential reading, especially if you’re a racist
The Fat Black Woman’s Poems by Grace Nichols
finally some really bloody good poems
Giovanni’s Room by James Baldwin
Gorgeous, sensuous, unforgettable
Negroland: A Memoir by Margo Jefferson
Finally, a book about race that makes me angry at myself
Triumph Of The Now 