No Dictionary of a Living Tongue

by Duriel E. Harris

No Dictionary of a Living Tongue is formidable in its explorations of art, citizenship, and life as a body amid the social, political, and electronic networks that define us, hold us together, bind us. The poems here take many forms―prose, lyric, epigram, narrative, dialogue fragment, song, musical score, fairy tale, and dictionary entry. An elegant use of sound couples with a keen and roving intelligence and a fierce commitment to social justice to create a unique and powerful collection of poems.

Genres: Poetry

114 pages, Paperback

Published April 4, 2017

About the author

Duriel E. Harris is a poet, performer, and sound artist. She is author of three print volumes of poetry, including her most recent, No Dictionary of a Living Tongue (Nightboat, 2017), Drag (2003) and Amnesiac: Poems (2010). Multi-genre works include her one-person theatrical performance Thingification, as well as Speleology (2011), a video collaboration with artist Scott Rankin. Recent and upcoming appearances include performances at the Lake Forest College Allan L. Carr Theatre, the Chicago Jazz Festival (with Douglas Ewart & Inventions), the Greenhouse Theater (Chicago), the Naropa Capitalocene, The Votive Poetics Workshop (New Zealand), and Festival Internacional de Poesía de La Habana (Cuba).

Cofounder of the avant garde poetry/performance trio The Black Took Collective, Harris has been a MacDowell and Millay Colony fellow and has received grants from the Illinois Arts Council Agency, the Cave Canem Foundation, and the Rockefeller Brothers Fund. Her work has appeared in numerous venues, including BAX, Mandorla, The &Now Awards, Of Poetry & Protest, Ploughshares, Troubling the Line, and The Best of Fence; and her compositions have been translated into Polish, German, and Spanish. Harris earned degrees in Literature from Yale University and NYU, and a PhD from the University of Illinois at Chicago Program for Writers.

The 2018 Offen Poet, Harris is an associate professor of English in the graduate creative writing program at Illinois State University and the Editor of Obsidian: Literature & Arts in the African Diaspora.

Reviews

[Chris]

Bob Dylan's "Blowin' In The Wind" has prodded a listener's conscience with the question "How many...?" for so long now, its once plaintive, weighty query has become meaningless cliche. Duriel E. Harris takes up the question once again (this is my conclusion, not a stated intention of the author) in "He who fights with monsters" and compellingly revives and reinvigorates that eternal question and it's corollaries.
Duriel is a poet, singer, performance artist and in this 2-dimensional format she attempts to present her poems in ways that suggest their original form. Several of the poems if not the entire volume deal with simulcra. "Danger, Live Feed" is presented in a fold-out section that is as visually beautiful as it's words are powerful. Information about the original presentations and those that appear in the book is provided in the notes.
This is a beautiful collection of poetry examining art, citizenship, and life as a body.

[Brent Shenton · Rating 5 out of 5]

The best collection of poetry I read this school quarter. The way Harris navigates language is unique and particularly beautiful. I found myself having to stop and savor lines of certain poems throughout the collection. This is a new favorite book and I am honored to have read it.

[Wendy Lu · Rating 3 out of 5]

really really loved "Let us, you and I (Levers and Locks)

[Kamie · Rating 5 out of 5]

a very well written and thought provoking poetry book. i will definitely check out Harris’ other works.

[Marva Jackson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Rich evocative inspiring writing, and I also must say that I work with Duriel and she is awesome!