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January 6, 2022 by

Olio

Olio

$25.00

Category: Poetry
  • Description

Description

Olio by Tyehimba Jess

“Jess’s work displays a deep sense of cool black consciousness, especially in regard to musicality. He works with an expressive tradition that blends sensibilities of field holler, spiritual encodings, gospel moan and groan, work song cadence, blue notes, and jook joint jazz.”—Howard Ramsby II, Sou’wester

Part fact, part fiction, Tyehimba Jess’s much anticipated second book weaves sonnet, song, and narrative to examine the lives of mostly unrecorded African American performers directly before and after the Civil War up to World War I. Olio is an effort to understand how they met, resisted, complicated, co-opted, and sometimes defeated attempts to minstrelize them.

So, while I lead this choir, I still find that
I’m being led…I’m a missionary
mending my faith in the midst of this flock…
I toil in their fields of praise. When folks see
these freedmen stand and sing, they hear their God
speak in tongues. These nine dark mouths sing shelter;
they echo a hymn’s haven from slavery’s weather.

Detroit native Tyehimba Jess‘ first book of poetry, leadbelly, was a winner of the 2004 National Poetry Series. Jess, a Cave Canem and NYU Alumni, has received fellowships from the Whiting Foundation, National Endowment for the Arts, Illinois Arts Council, and the Provincetown Fine Arts Work Center. Jess is also a veteran of the 2000 and 2001 Green Mill Poetry Slam Team. He exhibited his poetry at the 2011 TEDxNashville Conference. Jess is an Associate Professor of English at College of Staten Island.

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Our next book pick is The Frozen River by Ariel Lawhon. This month’s book club is June 10th. Come join us and enjoy lively, spirited discussion! RSVP by sending us a message.

Author Event with Mashall Thorton | June 3 at 6:00 PM

Spring is blooming, and Bay Books is celebrating PRIDE month with a special literary evening featuring three-time Lambda Award–winning author Marshall Thornton. Whether you’re a longtime fan or exploring LGBTQ literature for the first time, this event invites you to engage, reflect, and connect.

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