Thursday, September 12, 2019

Suck on the Marrow by Camille T. Dungy

Suck on the Marrow (2010) by Camille T. Dungy explores fictionalized (but historically and factually rooted) narratives of enslaved and free black people in mid-1800s Virginia.




Written in beautiful free verse, the poems of Suck on the Marrow carry a lyrical and emotional power that resonates through each of the book's four major sections, each representing the lives of the various characters. In the back of the book, Dungy includes references to real historical events, such as an eclipse (which was actually an impetus of Nat Turner's slave uprising) and an earthquake. This "Primer" also expands upon the personal histories of some of the people in the book. The poems vary in scope and length. Some are written in epistolary form, some are family histories, some deal with slave-owners, and some are deeply personal narratives of the characters Dungy created for this book.







Buy the book:
https://www.amazon.com/Suck-Marrow-Camille-Dungy/dp/1597094684

Read more poems here:
https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/58392/almost-like-they-wanted-it
https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/58393/runaway-ran-away
https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/58391/from-the-unwritten-letters-of-joseph-freeman

Author's website:
https://camilledungy.com/

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