Poetry, American Literature Anthologies, Anthologies

The Garden Thrives

Name: The Garden Thrives
Author: Clarence Major
ISBN: 9780060553647

by Clarence Major

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Overview

The Garden Thrives brings together members of the African-American literary canon, from the Harlem Renaissance's Langston Hughes, Countee Cullen, Jean Toomer, Claude McKay, and Arna Bontemps to the "protest" period's Richard Wright, Ralph Ellison, Gwendolyn Brooks, Margaret Walker Alexander, and Sterling Brown; from poets emerging from the civil rights movement, including Derek Walcott, Gerald Barrax, Amiri Baraka (LeRoi Jones), Sonia Sanchez, Audre Lorde, and Jayne Cortez, to present-day future legends like Essex Hemphill, C. S. Giscombe, and Claudia Rankine. By including a wide range of African-American poetry, exploring the presence of both rural and urban settings, the evolution of black poetic language, and the emergence of perhaps another Renaissance, Clarence Major celebrates tradition and innovation in American literature and expands our understanding of the very nature of poetry itself.

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Editorials

Publishers Weekly - Publisher's Weekly

There are nearly 100 contributors in this massive companion volume to the well-received Calling the Wind: 20th-Century African-American Short Stories, also edited by Major. Along with the expected contributors (e.g., Langston Hughes, Gwendolyn Brooks, Amiri Baraka, Audre Lorde and Rita Dove), works by less-recognized writers appear. There are the proud, gentle poems of Angela Weld Grimk (1880-1958); Gerald Barrax's quiet lyrics; cutting portraits of New York City by Henry Dumas (1934-1968); Ellease Southerland's explorations of her spiritual and physical relationship with her African heritage; Essex Hemphill's tragicomic image of nailing Barbie doll heads to telephone poles. In his overview, Major, a professor at UC-Davis, traces African American poetry back to slavery and spirituals but also cites the influence of white poets (e.g., William Carlos Williams) in the work of several contributors. He also considers less worthy efforts, particularly early in this century, in this valuable resource. (Feb.)

Library Journal

Langston Hughes, Claude McKay, and Gwendolyn Brooks loom over this anthology of almost 100 20th-century African American poets. Hughes's immortal lament for a "dream deferred," McKay's memorable "The Lynching," and Brooks's moving "Bronzeville Woman in a Red Hat"great American poems by any standardsretain a universal largeness. The quality of the poetry is quite high. These many distinctive voices, exploring a legacy of injustice and racism, represent a fundamental achievement of American poetry. Editor Major (English, University of California,Davis) includes black poets who "trace some of their ancestors to Africa and who have lived as blacks in the United States, irrespective of where, in the Diaspora, they happened to have been born." This valuable, comprehensive work arranges poets in chronological order by year of birth. Includes an author's note, biographical notes, and 17-page introduction but no index. Recommended for all libraries.Frank Allen, Northamption Community Coll., Tannersville, Pa.