Breaking Silence

by Jacob Sam-La Rose

Shortlisted for the Forward Prize for Best First Collection and the Aldeburgh First Collection Prize. Jacob Sam-La Rose has been described as 'a one-man literary industry'. This was Patrick Neate's comment on the BBC Poetry Season 'Passionate about poetry and its power to change people's lives, he's a lesson to us all. He's also a damn fine writer.' Already well-known on the UK performance circuit, Sam-La Rose has also spent many years working with young people in schools and communities, especially around London. So it will come as a surprise to many that Breaking Silence is his first book-length collection of poetry. It is a collection that sits on the threshold between the personal and the profound, with eyes on race and dual heritage; masculinity and manhood; definitions and senses of self. Above all, it's a collection that's invested in the power of the voice, in the work of giving a voice to issues and entities that would otherwise remain silent. It speaks on divides, from the spaces in between. Jacob Sam-La Rose's work is grounded in a belief that poetry can be a powerful force within a community, and that it's possible to combine the immediacy of poetry in performance with formal rigour and innovation on the page. 'Poetry that is…fresh, vivid and masterly in its evocation of contemporary Britain' -Choman Hardi & Martyn Crucefix, PBS Bulletin, on Communion (Poetry Book Society Pamphlet Choice).

Genres: Poetry

71 pages, Kindle Edition

First published October 27, 2011

Reviews

[Rebecca · Rating 5 out of 5]

I fucking loved this collection. Beautiful eye and ear for the correct images, and a lovely turn in most poems. The poems themselves span themes of childhood/family, black youth/masculinity, grief/mourning, and even touch upon the power of poetry to explore these facets of identity, and moreso, the importance of teaching poetry to a younger generation to enable them to do exactly that (which reflects Jacob Sam-La Rose's own educational work with young people.)

Some completely stunning pieces; my particular favourites were 'Reportage', 'Make Some Noise', 'Keeping Up', the entirety of the 'Speechless' sequence and 'An Undisclosed Fortune.'

There are so many lines I'd like to quote, but I'll stick to one, this description of a boy shooting hoops from 'Keeping Up';

'...Under a pestle of midday sun,
one kid cut through us with a crossover fade, smooth
as any girl's pressed hair. Two steps, up and away,

kissing the ball with his fingers, feeding it through
the hoop. Few things I remember as beautiful.'

Few things I've read as beautiful, to be frank.

[evinha . · Rating 4 out of 5]

there’s so much depth within la-rose’s writing, i could sink my teeth into each and every poem

[Gavin Lightfoot · Rating 4 out of 5]

Some thoughtful and powerful poetry exploring Jacob's Guyanese and American heritage.

[Lucy Alina · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amazing poet

[Kaitlin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Re-read for college.
Great meeting the author and hearing about these poems in more depth.

Each time I reread the poems and analyse them his skill grows better and better.