SHORTLISTED FOR THE FORWARD PRIZE FOR BEST COLLECTION 2018A New York Times Notable Book of 2018Even the men in black armor, the onesJangling handcuffs and keys, what elseAre they so buffered against, if not loves bladeSizing up the hearts familiar meat?In Wade in the Water, Pulitzer Prizewinning poet Tracy K. Smiths signature voice inquisitive, lyrical and wry turns over what it means to be a citizen, a mother and an artist in a culture arbitrated by wealth, men and violence. The various connotations of the title, taken from a spiritual once sung on the Underground Railroad which smuggled slaves to safety in 19thcentury America, resurface throughout the book, binding past and present together. Collaged voices and documents recreate both the correspondence between slave owners and the letters sent home by African Americans enlisted in the US Civil War. Survivors reports attest to the experiences of recent immigrants and refugees. Accounts of neardeath experiences intertwine with the modernday fallout of a corporations illegal pollution of a major river and the surrounding land and, in a series of beautiful lyrical pieces, the poets everyday world and the growth and flourishing of her daughter are observed with a tender and witty eye. Marrying the contemporary and the historical to a sense of the transcendent, haunted and holy, this is a luminous book by one of Americas essential poets.

Binding: Paperback;96 pages; Publisher: Penguin Books Ltd; Classification: DCF; Weight: 210 g; Dimensions: 198 x 130 x 7

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