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Grayish-Black
This small collection contains poetry, prose, and photography. Throughout the book, the reader receives hand-written journal entries and sketches taken directly from the author's own personal journal. Touching on everything from race to mental illness, death and love, dive into the author's mind as they ask "are poets writers, artists, or both?" This politically charged yet reserved collection of raw writing and art is sure to thrill. Poetry from the a collection of poems and journal entries which dive into a wonderfully sad world.
- GenresPoetry
86 pages, Paperback
Published August 19, 2016
25 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
August 19, 2016
Springer writes poetry that evokes emotion; his subjects range from race, gender, and sexuality to love, passion and many more. I truly enjoyed the collection, yet I saw a good bit of growing room in a few places. I expect that we’ll see quite a bit more from Springer in the future. There are dozens of stunning poems within the pages of this book, and they truly reflect his thirst for justice and change.
One unique element of the book is the interlacing of Springer’s photography; often self portraits and images that he has poured a great deal of work into. It’s rare that we find such a multimedia publication that doesn’t come across as somewhat trite, yet Springer avoids melodrama in most instances and interlaces beautiful photographs that encompass emotion as diverse as his writing. I especially appreciated that his photographs weren’t all self portraits, and that his inclusive strategy spotlighted women of color in multiple instances.
I also thoroughly enjoyed the few sketches and handwritten lines that Springer incorporated; I was reminded immediately of Rupi Kaur’s stunning illustrations and the incorporation of Tupac Shakur’s handwritten poetry in The Rose that Grew from Concrete. Organic is the first word that comes to mind here, as it should be.
The poems that he has titled have fitting titles, and those lacking titles don’t need them in most instances. I think my greatest critiques would deal with the overuse of the word love and the occasional cliche. In some instances Springer’s emotion was too forthright for my taste which in turn read as less organic than he is capable of. Still, I couldn’t put it down and read the entire collection in one sitting.
One unique element of the book is the interlacing of Springer’s photography; often self portraits and images that he has poured a great deal of work into. It’s rare that we find such a multimedia publication that doesn’t come across as somewhat trite, yet Springer avoids melodrama in most instances and interlaces beautiful photographs that encompass emotion as diverse as his writing. I especially appreciated that his photographs weren’t all self portraits, and that his inclusive strategy spotlighted women of color in multiple instances.
I also thoroughly enjoyed the few sketches and handwritten lines that Springer incorporated; I was reminded immediately of Rupi Kaur’s stunning illustrations and the incorporation of Tupac Shakur’s handwritten poetry in The Rose that Grew from Concrete. Organic is the first word that comes to mind here, as it should be.
The poems that he has titled have fitting titles, and those lacking titles don’t need them in most instances. I think my greatest critiques would deal with the overuse of the word love and the occasional cliche. In some instances Springer’s emotion was too forthright for my taste which in turn read as less organic than he is capable of. Still, I couldn’t put it down and read the entire collection in one sitting.
September 20, 2016
This is a book that will make the hairs on your arms stand. This is a book that will squeeze sighs out of your heart. This is raw passionate emotion at its finest. Devyn Springer has taken a part of his ribs and put it on paper and you can feel it. From Blackness to love to Revolution to mental health, his poetry is an unabashed delve into being. Each of Devyn's intersections are reflected with an unfiltered clarity on the pages, complimented by incredible photography and diary entries. This book deserves multiple readings. It deserves to be annotated with the reader's feelings. It deserves a place on the favourites bookshelf alongside Marx, Freire, Malcolm X, and Edward Said.
October 22, 2017
7, 12, 16, 18, 22, 26, & 33, 45, & 48. Pages. Relatable. Understandable. Agreeable. Unforgettable. Just some of my faves.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews