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Begin with a Failed Body
Poems
by Natalie J. Graham
This title was previously available on NetGalley and is now archived.
Pub Date
Sep 15 2017
| Archive Date
Nov 30 2017
Description
This collection of poems begins rooted in the landscape of the U.S. South as it voices singular lives carved out of immediate and historical trauma. While these poems dwell in the body, often meditating on its frailty and desire, they also question the weight that literary, historical, and religious icons are expected to bear. Within the vast scope of this volume, the poems arc from a pig farmer’s funeral to Georges de la Tour’s paintings and Toni Morrison’s Beloved. With an ear tuned to the lift and lilt of speech, they wring song from sorrow and plant in every dirge a seed of jubilation. Rich in clarity and decisive in her attention to image, Natalie J. Graham writes resonant, lush poetry.
This collection of poems begins rooted in the landscape of the U.S. South as it voices singular lives carved out of immediate and historical trauma. While these poems dwell in the body, often...
Description
This collection of poems begins rooted in the landscape of the U.S. South as it voices singular lives carved out of immediate and historical trauma. While these poems dwell in the body, often meditating on its frailty and desire, they also question the weight that literary, historical, and religious icons are expected to bear. Within the vast scope of this volume, the poems arc from a pig farmer’s funeral to Georges de la Tour’s paintings and Toni Morrison’s Beloved. With an ear tuned to the lift and lilt of speech, they wring song from sorrow and plant in every dirge a seed of jubilation. Rich in clarity and decisive in her attention to image, Natalie J. Graham writes resonant, lush poetry.
A Note From the Publisher
Natalie J. Graham is an assistant professor of African American studies at California State University, Fullerton. Winner of the Cave Canem Poetry Prize.
Natalie J. Graham is an assistant professor of African American studies at California State University, Fullerton. Winner of the Cave Canem Poetry Prize.
Advance Praise
"Graham’s intellectual tentacles are long, and her imagination is
generous. She is constantly searching for something to pull into the
body, to feed the body. Her verse is terse, marked by technical
compaction, and yet it is simultaneously grandly encompassing and
voracious in its interests. In her we have a poet acutely sensitive to
the ways of the body, its betrayals, its pleasures, and its unknowable
selves. She is an exciting new voice, but this claim of ‘newness’ seems
almost trite, as there is nothing ‘new’—at least not in the sense we
might apply it to a novice’s work—about the authority, wisdom, and
daring we find in these poems."--Kwame Dawes
"Graham’s intellectual tentacles are long, and her imagination is generous. She is constantly searching for something to pull into the body, to feed the body. Her verse is terse, marked by...
Advance Praise
"Graham’s intellectual tentacles are long, and her imagination is
generous. She is constantly searching for something to pull into the
body, to feed the body. Her verse is terse, marked by technical
compaction, and yet it is simultaneously grandly encompassing and
voracious in its interests. In her we have a poet acutely sensitive to
the ways of the body, its betrayals, its pleasures, and its unknowable
selves. She is an exciting new voice, but this claim of ‘newness’ seems
almost trite, as there is nothing ‘new’—at least not in the sense we
might apply it to a novice’s work—about the authority, wisdom, and
daring we find in these poems."--Kwame Dawes
Available Editions
| EDITION |
Other Format |
| ISBN |
9780820351209 |
| PRICE |
$19.95 (USD)
|
| PAGES |
88
|
Additional Information
Available Editions
| EDITION |
Other Format |
| ISBN |
9780820351209 |
| PRICE |
$19.95 (USD)
|
| PAGES |
88
|
Average rating from 15 members
Featured Reviews
Nathaniel D, Media/Journalist
I really enjoyed picking up this poetry collection. I always feel a little hesitant to read poetry by an author I'm unfamiliar with, but I must say that I'm glad I rolled the dice on this one. There is some truly lovely imagery in this collection. Natalie Graham is a skilled writer and I'd love to read more by her in the future.
Krystal Kavita J, Media/Journalist
What an experience reading this! These poems elucidate the epic depths of historical trauma on one's body, with precision and clarity. Her work will especially resonate with the oppressed.
Michelle K, Reviewer
Begin with a Failed Body
Poems
by Natalie Graham
University of Georgia Press
Multicultural Interest , Poetry
Pub Date 15 Sep 2017
I am reviewing a copy of Begin With A Failed Body through University of Georgia Press andNetgalley:
This books poems spell out life's traumas both Historical in the hear and now. It also speaks of Religious Icons, and the poems they inspire for Natalie Graham. The poems also speak loss.
The poems go on to talk about Judas and his betrayal.
I give Begin With A Failed Body five out of five stars!
Happy Reading!
Joseph S, Reviewer
If I unravel this body
into a pool of black shimmering,
of ribbons, coils of dance, of flitting—
Begin with a Failed Body: Poems by Natalie Graham is the poet's first collection of published poetry and the winner of the 2016 Cave Canem Poetry Prize. Graham earned her MFA in Creative Writing at the University of Florida and completed her Ph.D. in American Studies at Michigan State University as a University Distinguished Fellow. Her poems have appeared in Callaloo, New England Review, Valley Voices: A Literary Review and Southern Humanities Review. She is a Cave Canem fellow and assistant professor of African American Studies at California State University, Fullerton.
This is a collection that I am not a typical audience member. The poems, without a doubt, are from the female and African American perspective. Nonetheless, I found the collection fascinating. In the first section, her work seems to capture Langston Hughes voice and language. The second section moves into religious topics with Judas and Mary Magnaline as subjects. The language of her poems flows well:
The oscillating fan shakes its rickety head.
She smoothes the raised black mane of a tattooed lion
and burns like Moses’s bush, fueled at four a.m.
by God-knows-what.
from "Palatka, Florida"
Graham seems to be greater than her actual age as references to items and activities seem to predate her in several instances. Perhaps this is more of an indication of the standard of living in poorer sections of Florida. This is also reflected in worn out shoes and Sunday dress as well as, for most of us, long vanished Datsun trucks. There is also a great sense of community from family and friends who take on the role as honorary aunts and uncles. Graham also presents a great deal of history included in the collection. Those who are neither not African-American nor from the South may have missed more of the personal references and history involved in the poems.
An excellent collection and an opening to a life that many have not experienced and perhaps a reminder that it should not exist in an enlightened and modern world.
Lecy B, Reviewer
Wow. Just wow. This was a beautiful collection of poetry from Natalie Graham and I am so thankful I was able to read it. There is so much depth and soul in each word that pours from her and it left me wanting more. Beautiful work.
*I received an advance reading copy in exchange for my honest review. All opinions expressed are my own.*
Featured Reviews
Nathaniel D, Media/Journalist
I really enjoyed picking up this poetry collection. I always feel a little hesitant to read poetry by an author I'm unfamiliar with, but I must say that I'm glad I rolled the dice on this one. There is some truly lovely imagery in this collection. Natalie Graham is a skilled writer and I'd love to read more by her in the future.
Krystal Kavita J, Media/Journalist
What an experience reading this! These poems elucidate the epic depths of historical trauma on one's body, with precision and clarity. Her work will especially resonate with the oppressed.
Michelle K, Reviewer
Begin with a Failed Body
Poems
by Natalie Graham
University of Georgia Press
Multicultural Interest , Poetry
Pub Date 15 Sep 2017
I am reviewing a copy of Begin With A Failed Body through University of Georgia Press andNetgalley:
This books poems spell out life's traumas both Historical in the hear and now. It also speaks of Religious Icons, and the poems they inspire for Natalie Graham. The poems also speak loss.
The poems go on to talk about Judas and his betrayal.
I give Begin With A Failed Body five out of five stars!
Happy Reading!
Joseph S, Reviewer
If I unravel this body
into a pool of black shimmering,
of ribbons, coils of dance, of flitting—
Begin with a Failed Body: Poems by Natalie Graham is the poet's first collection of published poetry and the winner of the 2016 Cave Canem Poetry Prize. Graham earned her MFA in Creative Writing at the University of Florida and completed her Ph.D. in American Studies at Michigan State University as a University Distinguished Fellow. Her poems have appeared in Callaloo, New England Review, Valley Voices: A Literary Review and Southern Humanities Review. She is a Cave Canem fellow and assistant professor of African American Studies at California State University, Fullerton.
This is a collection that I am not a typical audience member. The poems, without a doubt, are from the female and African American perspective. Nonetheless, I found the collection fascinating. In the first section, her work seems to capture Langston Hughes voice and language. The second section moves into religious topics with Judas and Mary Magnaline as subjects. The language of her poems flows well:
The oscillating fan shakes its rickety head.
She smoothes the raised black mane of a tattooed lion
and burns like Moses’s bush, fueled at four a.m.
by God-knows-what.
from "Palatka, Florida"
Graham seems to be greater than her actual age as references to items and activities seem to predate her in several instances. Perhaps this is more of an indication of the standard of living in poorer sections of Florida. This is also reflected in worn out shoes and Sunday dress as well as, for most of us, long vanished Datsun trucks. There is also a great sense of community from family and friends who take on the role as honorary aunts and uncles. Graham also presents a great deal of history included in the collection. Those who are neither not African-American nor from the South may have missed more of the personal references and history involved in the poems.
An excellent collection and an opening to a life that many have not experienced and perhaps a reminder that it should not exist in an enlightened and modern world.
Lecy B, Reviewer
Wow. Just wow. This was a beautiful collection of poetry from Natalie Graham and I am so thankful I was able to read it. There is so much depth and soul in each word that pours from her and it left me wanting more. Beautiful work.
*I received an advance reading copy in exchange for my honest review. All opinions expressed are my own.*
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