Blood by Shane McCrae

Blood by Shane McCrae is a book of free-verse, often fragmented poems in the voices of enslaved and freed African Americans and, at times, the voices of the generations to follow. The poems are written almost exclusively in the first-person from these voices, crossing generations throughout the collection in a way that is descriptive of the traumatic collective narrative they are meant to convey. It is all “happening now” — even the poems which are based on the German Coast Uprising of 1811 have an urgency and presence rather than a “historical” feel. Notes at the back of the book about source materials.

Purchase: http://www.noemipress.org/catalog/poetry/mccrae/

Read a review here: https://therumpus.net/2014/03/blood-by-shane-mccrae/

A poem from the collection: https://www.kenyonreview.org/kr-online-issue/2013-winter/selections/shane-mccrae-763879/