Tag: poetry
Celebrating Indigenous People’s Day with Local Poetry
This October, the Literatures community in the UC Berkeley Library wants to acknowledge that Berkeley sits on the territory of xučyun (Huichin (Hoo-Choon), the ancestral and unceded land of the Chochenyo (Cho-chen-yo) speaking Ohlone people, the successors of the historic and sovereign Verona Band of Alameda County. For more information on UC Berkeley’s stance, take a look at Centers for Educational Justice & Community Engagement’s statement on Ohlone Land.
To celebrate that history, here are a few excerpts from different California Indigenous peoples including Ohlone as well as Chowchilla- or Coast Miwok poets that this Literatures group enjoys. We encourage you to read the full poems and check out the authors’ collections.
November 1980
November
and up near Eureka
the highway has tumbled
with what may be
the last earthquake
of the year; offshore
Jade green water
chops holes in the yellow
sandstone cliff.
[…]
and up near Eureka
the highway has tumbled
with what may be
the last earthquake
of the year; offshore
Jade green water
chops holes in the yellow
sandstone cliff.
[…]
– Wendy Rose. For full poem see “Three California Indian Poems,” Journal of California and Great Basin Anthropology 2, no. 2 (Winter 1980): 158.
For more of Rose’s poetry, take a look at Lost Copper (1980, UC Library Search)
For more of Rose’s poetry, take a look at Lost Copper (1980, UC Library Search)
Old Territory, New Maps
You plan an uncomplicated path
through Colorado’s red dust,
around the caustic edge of Utah’s salt flats
a single night at a hotel
in the Idaho panhandle. Our plans change.
It’s spring, we are two Indian women along
together and the days open:
sunrise on a fine long road,
antelope against dry hills,
heron emerging from dim fields.
You tell me this is a journey
you’ve always wanted to take.
You ask me to tell you what I want.
[…]
through Colorado’s red dust,
around the caustic edge of Utah’s salt flats
a single night at a hotel
in the Idaho panhandle. Our plans change.
It’s spring, we are two Indian women along
together and the days open:
sunrise on a fine long road,
antelope against dry hills,
heron emerging from dim fields.
You tell me this is a journey
you’ve always wanted to take.
You ask me to tell you what I want.
[…]
– Deborah A. Miranda. For full poem, take a look at Zen of La Llorona (UC Library Search) or poetryfoundation.org.
For the Living
Standing high on this hillside
the wind off the Pacific
forming the language of grasses
and escarpment eternally speaking
the sea birds far out
on their planes of air
gather and squander
what the short days encompass
[…]
– Stephen Meadows . For full poem check out the anthology The Sound of Rattles and Clappers (UC Library Catalog) or take a look at Meadows’ recent book Winter Work (UC Library Search).
Memory Weaver
Grandmother weave me a story
The memories she pulls out of me sting like poison. Her little fingers nimbly poke the top of my scalp, as if she was carefully choosing each memory to set on top of her loom.
The silence is deafening as Grandmother Dreamweaver works on my unusual request. She is the protector of dreams, not a keeper of memories. Yet, she understands what I have asked of her.
[…]
– Yulu Ewis. For full poem, see News from Native California, Berkeley. 32,.no. 3 (Spring 2019): 24 on Ethnic News Watch. For additional poetry, take a look at Dream Weaver and the Coyote-Man’s Tale (soon to be in the UC Berkeley Library).
Sylvia Plath: Reading a Confessional Poet, Feminist Writer, and Influential Figure
by Taylor Follett
Saturday, October 27th marks the anniversary of Sylvia Plath‘s birth. Plath’s reputation as of the most fascinating and tragic women writers of the 20th century is well-known, as is the work which won her literary respect and a posthumous Pulitzer prize in 1982. Plath was a major figure of the confessional poetry movement and often hailed as an important feminist writer. The anniversary of Plath’s birth provides the perfect reason to crack open a copy of The Bell Jar, or perhaps remark on the wonder of “Lady Lazarus.”
New Books in Literature for October
As fall approaches and the weather begins to cool down, it’s the perfect time of year to curl up with a slice of pumpkin pie and a good book. Where better to find your next read than the library literature collection? The books we recently received have something for everyone—whether you’re looking for poetry, prose, or criticism.
Charlotte Bingham
Emily Spiers
Arundhati Roy
Sean Thomas Dougherty
Anne Tyler
Capildeo Vahni
Edited by Julie Maxwell and Kate Rumbold
Patrick O’Neill
Paige Cooper
Check out the rest of the new acquisitions!
Want a book that we don’t have in the library? Request it here.
Literature for Hispanic Heritage Month
by Taylor Follett
September 15 marked the beginning of Hispanic Heritage Month, a month-long celebration of Latinx histories and cultures. Today we’re looking at the rich diversity of Latinx titles available at the Library. (You can find national information about Hispanic Heritage Month here and events at and around UC Berkeley here.)
One rich resource for Latinx literature is the Latino Literature digital collection, which has thousands of digitized, full-text novels, poems, and plays written by over 400 authors in English and Spanish. Organized by both author and genre, the Latino Literature archive has at least 800 items that are not published anywhere else, making it a wonderful online resource for anybody interested in research—or just in reading.
If you’re looking for recently published novels, try:
Jennine Capó Crucet
Cristina Henríquez
Chantel Acevedo
More interested in lyricism and poetic prowess? Recent poetry collections will not disappoint:
Manuel Paul López
Vickie Vértiz
Rosa Alcalá
Don’t overlook one of the most inventive genres when looking for books to celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month. Young adult fiction has some truly wonderful picks:
Benjamin Alire Sáenz
Erika L. Sánchez
Adam Silvera
Latinx memoir is another incredibly rich genre:
Esmeralda Santiago
Diane Guerrero with Michelle Burford
Myriam Gurba
Happy reading, and don’t forget to check out both the Latino Literature database and UC Berkeley’s events for Hispanic Heritage Month!
April Is National Poetry Month!
With April comes all that it’s associated with—springtime, new growth, and fittingly, National Poetry Month. Established in 1996, National Poetry Month is just what it says on the tin: an opportunity to discuss, celebrate, and most importantly, read poetry. This is the perfect chance to read some of the new and wonderful poetry that the past several years has had to offer!
We might only be four months into 2018, but there have already been some phenomenal poetry collections:
New Books in Literature
With every new month comes new books being published—and added to our library collection! This month’s haul includes criticism, poetry, prose, and much more:
Michael Healey
David Simmons
Jacqueline Saphra
Sheila McMullin
David Chariandy
Alexandra Silber
See the full list of new acquisitions here, and keep an eye on the English Library Guide for more featured new books.
Want to see a book that we don’t have? Request it here!