The Forgetting Tree: A Rememory

by Rae Paris

Rae Paris began writing The Forgetting A Rememory in 2010, while traveling the United States, visiting sites of racial trauma, horror, and defiance. The desire to do this work came from being a child of parents born and raised in New Orleans during segregation, who ultimately left for California in the late 1950s. After the death of her father in 2011, the fiction Paris had been writing gave way to poetry and short prose, which were heavily influenced by the questions she'd long been considering about narrative, power, memory, and freedom. The need to write this story became even more personal and pressing.

While Paris sometimes uses the genre of "memoir" or "hybrid memoir" when referring to her work, in this case the term "rememory," born from Toni Morrison's Beloved , feels most accurate. Paris is driven by the familial and historical spaces and by what happens when we remember seemingly disparate images and moments. The collection is not fully prose or poetry, but rather an elegy for those who have passed through us.

A perfect blend of prose, poetry, and images, The Forgetting Tree is a unique and thought-provoking collection that argues for a deeper understanding of past and present so that we might imagine a more hopeful, sustainable, and loving future.

Genres: Poetry, Memoir

166 pages, Paperback

First published December 4, 2017

Reviews

[Allison Green · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a lyrical, harrowing memoir that explores personal grief and communal trauma. In poems and prose, Paris takes us with her on plantation tours, drawing our attention to what is and isn't said. At the same time, she grapples with her father's death. Throughout, she explores memory and forgetting, "imagining a different future for our Black lives, our Black bodies, in a world whose daily operation depends on its shameless refusal to own its past and present role in our current and future terror."

[Tyler Zamora · Rating 5 out of 5]

I think it’s appropriate I finished The Forgetting Tree on MLK Day. This book was so good and it made me think about the history of racism and how we as a society tend to erase the horrific parts of our past in favor of something easier to swallow instead of actually discussing the truth. And how the avoidance of that truth affects those who find it their reality every day. Rae, this book brings all of your lessons in class full circle. Thanks for bringing it into existence, especially during a time when we need it the most. My favorite part, which made me really emotional for some reason, was in the last section of the book. You say something about not knowing about God, but you believe in music and the way that Black strength gives you power. I don’t know about God either, but I believe in the pain behind Billie Holiday’s music and the soul behind Louis Armstrong’s. It’s a beautiful book, really. Everyone of every race should check it out. Enlighten yourselves.

[Greg Deaton · Rating 3 out of 5]

this was a tough one to rate. I loved what she said I did not like how she wrote. Poems were good, the prose portions not my fav. I think maybe this book is captured emotions and thoughts and I do not have the life experiences that enable me to fully connect. The information about the actual Forgetting Tree made the book worth reading, and sparked a conversation in our home. This book made me think and I would suggest it.

[Emily · Rating 5 out of 5]

"Who do we create sacred spaces for? Who gets to know what justice feels like? Who gets to be remembered? Who do we love?"

[Steve Friedman · Rating 5 out of 5]

Raw, poetic exposure to black tragedy in America. Very thought provoking.

[Kirsty · Rating 2 out of 5]

Forgetting Tree is a poetry collection which was not really for me. I am all in favour of poems which make me think, but the initial pieces in Rae Paris' collection did not capture my attention.