hellmiina's review
4.0
Standard English should absolutely not be the only way that literature can be written and I adored this celebration of vernacular. My favourites were the essays In The Absence of Writing or How I Became A Spy by NourbeSe Philip which is about the loss of African languages through colonialism and slavery and how she navigates that as a writer writing in English, Mother Tongue by Amy Tan which is about her mother's broken English and explores the idea of "broken" English, and African Speech, English Words by Gabriel Okra about writing with African syntax and language features even if you're writing in English to maintain an African identity in a work even if it's in English, like directly translating rather than translating to the English equivalent. My favourite short stories were Po Sandy by Charles Chestnutt, Letters from Whetu by Patricia Grace, and Betel Nut is Bad Magic for Airplanes by John Kasaipwalova. I adored all the poems! Removed one star because of course there were some works I enjoyed less than others.
pretentiouslyemely's review
emotional
hopeful
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? N/A
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? N/A
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
3.75
js thank you for the recommendation!! as an english major nerd, i really enjoyed reading the variety of texts! i loved the short stories and essays
asilrenrut's review
5.0
This is my dream anthology: vernacular English poetry, stories and essays from around the world. Brilliant! Combines Robert Burns, Zora Neale Hurston, Junot Díaz, and the essay that helped launch my thesis, "The Absence of Writing (Or How I Almost Became a Spy)" by M. NourbeSe Philip. A delicious read for postcolonialists everywhere.
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