From "one of the most impressive voices in poetry today" (Dissent magazine), a new collection that shines a light on forgotten or obscured parts of the past in order to reconstruct a deeper, truer vision of the present
Poet, performer, and scholar Joshua Bennett is the author of The Sobbing School. He received his PhD in English from Princeton University, and is currently Mellon Assistant Professor of English and Creative Writing at Dartmouth College. His writing has been published in The New York Times Magazine, The Paris Review, Poetry, and elsewhere. His book Being Property Once Myself- Blackness and the End of Man will be published by Harvard University Press in February 2020. His first work of narrative nonfiction, Spoken Word- A Cultural History, is forthcoming from Knopf. He lives in Boston.
FINALIST FOR THE NEW ENGLAND BOOK AWARD IN POETRY
“Themes of praise and debt pervade this rhapsodic, rigorous poetry
collection, which pays homage to everyday Black experience in the
U.S. . . . Bennett conjures a spirit of kinship that, illuminated
by redolent imagery, borders on mythic, and boldly stakes claim to
‘some living, future / English, & everyone in it / is immortal.’”
—The New Yorker
“Bennett captures the beauty of what really matters in life—the
memories, youth sports, family traditions and little moments that
many of us take for granted . . . [Owed] couldn't have been more
timely.” —Salon
“Not only are these poems eloquent but also lyrical,
intelligent, and, occasionally, funny. Most reflect upon and
communicate the pain, joy, and intensity of the current Black
experience . . . In a time when many confront and protest the
racism prevalent in our society, Bennett’s new book is vital.”
—Library Journal (starred review)
“[Owed] intertwines the author’s multifaceted professions as poet,
performer, and professor through powerful, crisp poems that
celebrate the complexity, joy, and heartbreak of the Black
experience in America . . . Bennett’s poems are more necessary than
ever.” —Publishers Weekly (starred review)
“[A]stonishing poems that explore the past, childhood, family
relationships, identity, and memory among many other themes, all
expertly rendered through a mixture of forms . . . [Bennett] has a
gift for building and setting vivid scenes and complex stories
within the small frames of his stanzas.” —Booklist
“We’re lucky to have Joshua Bennett’s Owed at this hour in America.
The resonances of ‘ode’ and ‘owed’ underscore his tremendous acts
of invention amid ‘an ever-expanding grand Black Epilogue.’ Lyrical
and political fibers are woven through narratives as clear and
idiosyncratic as the plastic on your grandmother’s couch. Owed
fights for the ‘ground where the children can play & come home
whole.’ Bennett swings with song and exaltation; he swings with
resistance and defense. I’m glad to have his amazing collection
right now. I will be glad to have it tomorrow.” —Terrance Hayes,
author of American Sonnets for My Past and Future Assassin
“Owed is an indictment of the state even as it is an ode to
the ongoingness of Black imagination. Here, a single moment
shimmers with a million resonances of attention. So the world is
loved this much. And what has been taken has been taken this much.
Bennett insists on repair even as he mourns what is utterly
irreparable. This book is part of a breathful, bodied fight
for Black life. I am emboldened and sharpened by Bennett's genius
and by his love made plain across each of these shimmering
pages.” —Aracelis Girmay, author of The Black Maria
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