Keynote
The brilliant and virtuosic debut collection by poet Elizabeth Alexander
Book Title
The Venus Hottentot
Subtitle
Poems
Cover Image
- “Readers owe themselves the many pleasures to be found in this book; Elizabeth Alexander creates intellectual magic in poem after poem.”—New York Times Book Review
Body
I didn't want to write a poem that said "blackness
is," because we know better than anyone
that we are not one or ten or ten thousand things
Not one poem
-from "Today's News"
Originally published in 1990 to widespread acclaim, The Venus Hottentot introduces Elizabeth Alexander's vital poetic voice, distinguished even in this remarkable first book by its examination of history, gender, and race with an uncommon clarity and music. These poems range from personal memory to cultural history to human personae: John Coltrane, Frida Kahlo, Nelson Mandela, and "The Venus Hottentot," a nineteenth-century African woman who was made into a carnival sideshow exhibit.
In language as vibrant within traditional forms as it is within improvisational lyrics, the poems in The Venus Hottentot demonstrate why Alexander is among our most dazzling and important contemporary poets and cultural critics.
is," because we know better than anyone
that we are not one or ten or ten thousand things
Not one poem
-from "Today's News"
Originally published in 1990 to widespread acclaim, The Venus Hottentot introduces Elizabeth Alexander's vital poetic voice, distinguished even in this remarkable first book by its examination of history, gender, and race with an uncommon clarity and music. These poems range from personal memory to cultural history to human personae: John Coltrane, Frida Kahlo, Nelson Mandela, and "The Venus Hottentot," a nineteenth-century African woman who was made into a carnival sideshow exhibit.
In language as vibrant within traditional forms as it is within improvisational lyrics, the poems in The Venus Hottentot demonstrate why Alexander is among our most dazzling and important contemporary poets and cultural critics.
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About the Author
Credit: CJ Gunther
Praise
- “My life is black and filled with fortune because of young black people like Elizabeth Alexander.”—Washington Post
- “One of the most exciting books of poetry to come out in a very long time is The Venus Hottentot. . . . An extraordinary new voice has been added to literature.”—People Magazine
- “The poems are catchy, seductive, steeped in history, more rewarding on successive readings. . . . The Venus Hottentot is a superb first book.”—Poetry
