Voyage of the Sable Venus and Other PoemsVoyage of the Sable Venus and Other Poems
WINNER OF THE NATIONAL BOOK AWARD
A stunning poetry debut: this meditation on the black female figure throughout time introduces us to a brave and penetrating new voice.
 
Robin Coste Lewis&;s electrifying collection is a triptych that begins and ends with lyric poems considering the roles desire and race play in the construction of the self. The central panel is the title poem, &;Voyage of the Sable Venus,&; a riveting narrative made up entirely of titles of artworks from ancient times to the present&;titles that feature or in some way comment on the black female figure in Western art. Bracketed by Lewis&;s autobiographical poems, &;Voyage&; is a tender and shocking study of the fragmentary mysteries of stereotype, as it juxtaposes our names for things with what we actually see and know. Offering a new understanding of biography and the self, this collection questions just where, historically, do ideas about the black female figure truly begin&;five hundred years ago, five thousand, or even longer? And what role has art played in this ancient, often heinous story? From the &;Young Black Female Carrying / a Perfume Vase&; to a &;Little Brown Girl / Girl Standing in a Tree / First Day of Voluntary / School Integration,&; this poet adores her culture and the beauty to be found within it. Yet she is also a cultural critic alert to the nuances of race and desire and how they define us all, including herself, as she explores her own sometimes painful history. Lewis&;s book is a thrilling aesthetic anthem to the complexity of race&;a full embrace of its pleasure and horror, in equal parts.
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- New York : Alfred A. Knopf, 2015., New York : Alfred A. Knopf, 2015.
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