Wade in the Water by Tracy K. Smith

Wade in the Water by Tracy K. Smith blends contemporary personal lyric poetry with historical work using letters and statements from African American soldiers enlisted in the Civil war, an erasure poem using the text of the Declaration of Independence, and erasure poems using letters between slave holders. There is also an eye toward the contemporary impacts of racism and diaspora inside and outside of America, drawing on news articles from 2016, 2017, and exhibitions of artwork from refugee children from Sudan and Syria. She writes, “History is a ship forever setting sail.” (from the poem “Ghazal”, pg. 38)

There are extensive notes for source materials at the back of the book. Quotations are italicized, excluding the work in the poem, “I Will Tell You the Truth About This, I Will Tell You All About It”, where the text is entirely from source materials, all listed in the back, but not italicized in the poem.

purchase: https://www.indiebound.org/book/9781555978365?aff=GraywolfWebsite

a review: https://www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2018/06/tracy-k-smith-wade-in-the-water/562022/

an interview about the book: http://www.pbs.org/wnet/amanpour-and-company/video/tracy-k-smith-on-her-new-book-wade-in-the-water/