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Dancing Back Strong the Nation: Poems
Volume XXI, Number I of The Blue Cloud Quarterly. Stapled binding. 8.25" x 6". 25 poems by Native American poet, Maurice Kenny. Illustratedby Mohawk artist, Rokwaho.
- GenresPoetry
Staple Bound
Published January 1, 1981
3 people want to read
About the author
Maurice Kenny
46 books7 followersMaurice Kenny, Mohawk, was born in Watertown, NY. His work has been published in almost 100 journals, including special issues, especially on Native American writing.
In 2000, Maurice received the Elder Recognition Award from the Wordcraft Circle of Native Writers. In 1996 On Second Thought was a finalist for the Oklahoma Book Award in fiction.
Maurice's book of poems, Blackrobe : Isaac Jogues, B. March 11, 1607, D. October 18, 1646, was nominated for the Pulitzer Prize, as was Between Two Rivers. He is the recipient of a National Public Radio Award for Broadcasting. His book The Mama Poems received the American Book Award in 1984. The Bloomsbury Review cited Wounds Beneath the Flesh as the best anthology of 1983.
In 2000, Maurice received the Elder Recognition Award from the Wordcraft Circle of Native Writers. In 1996 On Second Thought was a finalist for the Oklahoma Book Award in fiction.
Maurice's book of poems, Blackrobe : Isaac Jogues, B. March 11, 1607, D. October 18, 1646, was nominated for the Pulitzer Prize, as was Between Two Rivers. He is the recipient of a National Public Radio Award for Broadcasting. His book The Mama Poems received the American Book Award in 1984. The Bloomsbury Review cited Wounds Beneath the Flesh as the best anthology of 1983.
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February 26, 2017
I know Maurice personally, as he was my brother's poetry teacher and mentor for many years, and is now a family friend, who used to come for Thanksgiving dinner and such. Weirdly, I haven't read many of his books, and I'm happy to be making up for lost time.
This is wonderful. Having grown up in the Adirondacks, somewhat south of his "north", I can smell and sense the atmosphere he paints here with his words. The smell of snow and ceder, the sound of plows, and the sight of pickups and warm, cozy kitchens.
Maurice is half Irish, half Mohawk, and in many of these poems, you can feel the longing he has for identity, feeling not fully Indian, but too Indian to avoid prejudice. Some of the poems deal with this, some with purely sensory data, like smells and sounds and sights. He's able to call up his past with these senses, even while eating Mexican strawberries in Brooklyn.
This is wonderful. Having grown up in the Adirondacks, somewhat south of his "north", I can smell and sense the atmosphere he paints here with his words. The smell of snow and ceder, the sound of plows, and the sight of pickups and warm, cozy kitchens.
Maurice is half Irish, half Mohawk, and in many of these poems, you can feel the longing he has for identity, feeling not fully Indian, but too Indian to avoid prejudice. Some of the poems deal with this, some with purely sensory data, like smells and sounds and sights. He's able to call up his past with these senses, even while eating Mexican strawberries in Brooklyn.
Displaying 1 of 1 review