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Yard Show
Black history, cultural expression, and the natural world fuse in Janice N. Harrington’s Yard Show to investigate how Black Americans have shaped a sense of belonging and place within the Midwestern United States. As seen through the documentation of objects found within yard shows, this collection of descriptive, lyrical, and experimental poems speaks to the Black American Imagination in all its multiplicity.
Harrington’s speaker is a chronicler of yesterdays, using the events of the past to center and advocate for a future that celebrates pleasure and self-fulfillment within Black communities.
Harrington’s speaker is a chronicler of yesterdays, using the events of the past to center and advocate for a future that celebrates pleasure and self-fulfillment within Black communities.
- GenresPoetry
107 pages, Hardcover
Published October 15, 2024
About the author
Janice N. Harrington
19 books46 followersHarrington’s writing reflects her beginnings in rural Alabama and her life in the Midwest. A former librarian and professional storyteller, Harrington now teaches creative writing in the Department of English at the University of Illinois.
-from janiceharrington.com
-from janiceharrington.com
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
January 11, 2025
"This lesson: that attention
makes belonging, makes place."
As an Illinois resident, this collection especially pulled me in because of its focus not just on Midwestern and prairie place/sense of place, but on Illinois in particular. Loved the central through-line of understanding/unpacking the Midwest's geographic and social sense of place, with attention to Black midwesterners' history and art. Whether that be about prairie grasses, yard shows/yard art, particular Illinois towns, and/or food, this was a really cool focus on the Midwest.
What was really special about this reading experience was that this collection felt simultaneously academic/explicitly in conversation with other academics AND poetic/lyrical/with attention to form and craft. I liked the use of epigraphs for each section, and the quotes and borrowed lines within individual poems. Very cool. As a collection, too, this is cohesive and feels like a complete book. It has a lot of dense information, but still reads quickly - which, I think, is a testament to the lyrical skill, decisions on form, and ordering of the poems.
Relatedly, I wasn't familiar with all of the citations/references, whether they be explicit quotes or more subtle call-backs, but/and I still felt like I could read this without stopping to look up everything. Maybe that's an error on my part, though. The notes section in the back of the book helped me appreciate how many more references there were than I caught on my own.
makes belonging, makes place."
As an Illinois resident, this collection especially pulled me in because of its focus not just on Midwestern and prairie place/sense of place, but on Illinois in particular. Loved the central through-line of understanding/unpacking the Midwest's geographic and social sense of place, with attention to Black midwesterners' history and art. Whether that be about prairie grasses, yard shows/yard art, particular Illinois towns, and/or food, this was a really cool focus on the Midwest.
What was really special about this reading experience was that this collection felt simultaneously academic/explicitly in conversation with other academics AND poetic/lyrical/with attention to form and craft. I liked the use of epigraphs for each section, and the quotes and borrowed lines within individual poems. Very cool. As a collection, too, this is cohesive and feels like a complete book. It has a lot of dense information, but still reads quickly - which, I think, is a testament to the lyrical skill, decisions on form, and ordering of the poems.
Relatedly, I wasn't familiar with all of the citations/references, whether they be explicit quotes or more subtle call-backs, but/and I still felt like I could read this without stopping to look up everything. Maybe that's an error on my part, though. The notes section in the back of the book helped me appreciate how many more references there were than I caught on my own.
July 2, 2024
“A funnel-weaving spider /
lowered into the aorta of the human heart /
will weave a web appropriate for space.”
technically skilled, really beautiful meditations on pastoral poetry (and the place of Blackness within them), prairie landscapes, the yards & lawns of Black folks, what does it mean to witness as a Black woman, how does it change what is being witnessed etc. just gorgeous throughout.
lowered into the aorta of the human heart /
will weave a web appropriate for space.”
technically skilled, really beautiful meditations on pastoral poetry (and the place of Blackness within them), prairie landscapes, the yards & lawns of Black folks, what does it mean to witness as a Black woman, how does it change what is being witnessed etc. just gorgeous throughout.
February 20, 2025
a book of poems about the black experience of living in the midwest interspersed with the beauty of midwest nature. absolutely melancholy and dazzling and incredible metaphors and descriptions. i didnt want this book to be over when i finished it
April 25, 2025
Beautiful.
April 30, 2025
really lovely. if i understood poetry more this would have been even better
September 29, 2025
A great reminder of why we should all read more poetry.
November 8, 2025
Oh, I loved these - absolutely transformative for how I look at Midwest yards and the natural spaces of redlined predominately Black neighborhoods in our Midwest cities
August 27, 2025
I don’t usually read poetry so I do not feel adept to provide an accurate star rating. So 4/5 for a non poetry reader.
I read this because it won the Anisfield-Wolf Book Award for poetry in 2025.
I enjoyed the varying styles of poems in this collection and am excited to meet Janice N. Harrington during the awards celebrations.
Update: I met Janice Harrington and she is such a cool, funny, and kind poet and it was incredible hearing her read these poems aloud!
I read this because it won the Anisfield-Wolf Book Award for poetry in 2025.
I enjoyed the varying styles of poems in this collection and am excited to meet Janice N. Harrington during the awards celebrations.
Update: I met Janice Harrington and she is such a cool, funny, and kind poet and it was incredible hearing her read these poems aloud!
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews