Customer Reviews

Fire on the Water

5 star:		(0)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I was first introduced to this text in a college Black American Studies class, but I fell in love with the language and variety in a single volume. I find myself re-reading the poetry because of the truths it reveals about me -- a midwestern white woman -- as much as it does about black Nova Scotians. I find myself teaching the stories and essays within it to challenge my students to see that people don't fit into neat categories.

As with any anthology, some authors you love, some you like, and some you skip. What is particularly refreshing about this anthology though is that for every author you may read between three and twelve separate pieces. Sometimes the pieces are related -- such as a poem and essay on the same topic, taking two different roads to very similar ends -- or sometimes they're dissimilar -- one the tale of a slave woman watching her beloved die while another is a young girl in the '40s-'50s wishing for her mother to quit pulling her hair into braids.

I recommend this for any lover of poetry, social justice fiction or history.