leavingsealevel's review
3.0
This book is really really good, but I am realizing (in my new reading poetry thing) that I don't really enjoy poetry collections that have some sort of...concept (?) to tie everything together. I just like poems. I'm glad this had a long introduction because it warmed me up to the concept poems slightly and made me get it more than I would have if I'd just jumped in.
danabook's review
4.5
baldwin tells us to write sentences as clean as bone. safia elhillo does just that and hits the heart right on the target every time
rayyan3's review
5.0
I occasionally go to a local poetry slam/open mic type of thing at a lounge nearby on Wednesdays, and on one of the random nights I decided to attend, Safia Elhillo was the featured poet. I hadn't heard of her before, hadn't researched her prior to attending, and hadn't even checked who would be performing. After the open mic portion, she came up and read a collection of selected works.
As soon as she said a word in Arabic I teared up because I. am. so. here. for WoC especially MUSLIM WoC honing their craft and speaking up.
As she went on I found my self straight up crying because her work is beautiful and quirky and thought-provoking and so so important all at the same time. I immediately went home and ordered The January Children on Amazon and followed her on all her social media. I've read this book several times, and I have it sitting on my coffee table to go back to certain pieces often and to show random people who come to my apartment bits of her work (including my dad who does not care for poetry at all and is in no way sentimental; and he loved it).
As soon as she said a word in Arabic I teared up because I. am. so. here. for WoC especially MUSLIM WoC honing their craft and speaking up.
As she went on I found my self straight up crying because her work is beautiful and quirky and thought-provoking and so so important all at the same time. I immediately went home and ordered The January Children on Amazon and followed her on all her social media. I've read this book several times, and I have it sitting on my coffee table to go back to certain pieces often and to show random people who come to my apartment bits of her work (including my dad who does not care for poetry at all and is in no way sentimental; and he loved it).
scrow1022's review
5.0
Mmm, the rhythms, the stories, the voices, the questions. I keep opening it up and getting lost in it again.
fermented's review
5.0
Everything from the details
to the emotional content
"once in geneva i was one of three african girls at school two of which were said to stink i was never told which two"
-from "asmarani does psychogeography"
to the style
are phenomenal.
Elhilla even includes a glossary and a set of notes to translate the Arabic phrases scattered throughout. You'll want to read them, because her wordplay is incredible.
I mean, seriously, even her titles ("a brief history of silence," about repression in the Sudan; "talking with an accent about home," "self-portrait with dirty hair") are better than most poetry.
It's hard to put this down once you start reading. This is a collection of poetry that would leave anyone breathless.
I received this electronic readers' advanced copy through Netgalley via University of Nebraska Press.
"& in the months since my last visit _ i feel american
syrup settle back to coat my r's __ & in new york
i am ambiguous browngirl _ [but your english
is so good you can barely hear the accent]"
-from "republic of the sudan
ministry of interior
passport & immigration general directorate
alien from sudanese origin passcard")
to the emotional content
"once in geneva i was one of three african girls at school two of which were said to stink i was never told which two"
-from "asmarani does psychogeography"
to the style
"our mouths open & a song falls out _ thick
with a saxophone's syrup _ & all our dead
in the ground make our land ours _ & all
our missing fathers make us everything's child"
-from "self-portrait with yellow dress"
are phenomenal.
Elhilla even includes a glossary and a set of notes to translate the Arabic phrases scattered throughout. You'll want to read them, because her wordplay is incredible.
I mean, seriously, even her titles ("a brief history of silence," about repression in the Sudan; "talking with an accent about home," "self-portrait with dirty hair") are better than most poetry.
It's hard to put this down once you start reading. This is a collection of poetry that would leave anyone breathless.
I received this electronic readers' advanced copy through Netgalley via University of Nebraska Press.