The Ringing Ear: Black Poets Lean South (Cave Canem Anthology) (Cave Canem Anthology) (Cave Canem Anthology) [Paperback]

Nikky Finney (Editor)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 25, 2007 | Series: Cave Canem Anthology

The South: to render all that it means to an African American takes someone with acutely tuned senses, someone with a patience, a passion even, for the region's history and contradictions. It takes a poet. In this new anthology, the first of its kind, more than one hundred contemporary black poets laugh at and cry about, pray for and curse, flee and return to--the South.

Voices new to the scene appear in The Ringing Ear alongside some of the leading names in American literature today, including Sonia Sanchez, Yusef Komunyakaa, Harryette Mullen, Nikki Giovanni, Kevin Young, Cornelius Eady, and Al Young. The southern worlds opened up by these poets are echoed in how their poems are grouped, under headings like "Music, Food, and Work: Heeding the Lamentation and Roar of Things Made by Hand," or "Religion and Nature: The Lord Looks Out for Babies and Fools," or "Love, Flesh, and Family: The Hush and Holler Portraits."

"Not all of us on these pages have come to or from the South by the same dirt road," says anthology editor Nikky Finney. "We have not chosen our dark olive words from the same patch of earth. Some have come by way of birth and others have followed street musicians and urban corner preachers, dream and myth, to stand before its pine and iron gates."

Editorial Reviews

Review

"... offers a consistently strong showcase of Black voices and a compelling and accessible organization, and should persist as an important articulation of the Black experience of the American South ... wondrous diversity of form subject, of perspective ... the genius of the book and of Cave Canem's importance is obvious ... The Ringing Ear is such an heirloom -- Cave Canem's gift from the chorus of voices pushing the boundaries and barriers to the diverse and expanding tradition of American poetry." --Rain Taxi, Fall 2007, Lynnell Edwards

"There are tons of literary anthologies inspired in one way or another by the Southern states. But to say that an anthology of poems about the South by African American writers is overdue would be an understatement... The Ringing Ear...redresses the imbalance, collecting poems by Sonia Sanchez, Cornelius Eady, Nikki Giovanni, Nathaniel Mackey, and more." --Guardian

"There are tons of literary anthologies inspired in one way or another by the Southern states. But to say that an anthology of poems about the South by African American writers is overdue would be an understatement... The Ringing Ear...redresses the imbalance, collecting poems by Sonia Sanchez, Cornelius Eady, Nikki Giovanni, Nathaniel Mackey, and more." --Guardian

About the Author

Nikky Finney is a professor of creative writing at the University of Kentucky and author of three collections of poetry: On Wings Made of Gauze; Rice, which won a PEN America Open Book Award; and The World Is Round. She is also the author of Heartwood, a collection of short stories.

Cave Canem is a national nonprofit organization committed to the discovery and cultivation of new voices in African American poetry. From its beginning in 1996, Cave Canem has offered a safe haven for black poets--whether schooled in MFA programs or poetry slams--to come together to work on their craft and engage others in critical debate.

Product Details

• Paperback: 432 pages
• Publisher: University of Georgia Press (March 25, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0820329266
• ISBN-13: 978-0820329260
• Product Dimensions: 6 x 0.9 x 9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #427,541 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Sheree Renée Thomas is a native of Memphis. A Cave Canem Fellow and a New York Foundation of the Arts Fellow, her short stories, poetry, and articles have appeared in various publications, including storySouth, Callaloo, Colorlines, Essence Magazine, Upscale, VIBE, Obsidian III, Harpur Palate, The Washington Post Book World, Meridians, African Voices, Drumvoices Revue, Black Renaissance /Renaissance Noire as well as in several anthologies, including Mojo: Conjure Stories, Hurricane Blues, Role Call, Bum Rush the Page: A Def Poetry Jam, The Ringing Ear, MYTHIC 2, Southern Revival, Bronx Biannual, and So Long Been Dreaming: Postcolonial Science Fiction and Fantasy. A mother of two daughters and a teaching artist, Sheree is the editor of two anthologies (Dark Matter: A Century of Speculative Fiction from the African Diaspora and Dark Matter: Reading the Bones, winner of the 2001 and 2005 World Fantasy Award) and of SCARAB, a limited, signed artist edition of the Coptic-bound anthology. SHOTGUN LULLABIES: Stories & Poems, is the first collection of her work.


http://booktour.com/author/33091

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Good Ears June 18, 2007

By Diann

Format:Paperback

"The Ringing Ear: Black Poets Lean South," a compulsively rich anthology edited by Nikky Finney, raises many of the usual arguments about identity politics and aesthetic quality. But another, and more personally interesting, comes from a different quarter: Why is this anthology so much better than any Southern-based collection edited by a white writer in recent years? After all, these have contained African-American writers (and even women).

But they have not been nearly as representative of the old and the young; the native-born Southerners and the emigres, even the visitors; the formalists and the writers of free verse, not to mention Ebonics and spoken word poets. Forrest Hamer, from whose work the book's title is taken, is one of the better-known newcomers; others to watch are Honoree Fanonne Jeffers, Sharan Strange, Thomas Sayers Ellis, Hermine Pinson, Earl Braggs, Harryette Mullen, and Kendra Hamilton, to name only a few.

There are moments in Finney's anthology when readers might well feel that quality has been sacrificed for inclusiveness. Preferring gumbo to poached okra when it comes to such matters, I licked the bowl clean.

5.0 out of 5 stars Thank you June 17, 2013

By Kyoonwon Yang

Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase

Thank you, everything's satisfactory! Being too far, international postal cost is too high for me. Still, I am happy to have it in good condition.