Banana [ ] / we pilot the blood

by Paul Hlava Ceballos, Quenton Baker, Christina Sharpe

This tête-bêche (head-to-toe) book is more than the sum of its parts: two poetic accounts of Empire by two different writers. Assembled from Senate documents detailing the 1841 slave revolt aboard the brig Creole, Quenton Baker's "we pilot the blood" considers the position of blackness and the ongoing afterlife of slavery. Paul Hlava Ceballos's "Banana [ ]" collages declassified CIA documents, corporate reports, horticultural papers and personal accounts into a bloody portrait of multinational exploitation. Between these lyrical interrogations is a contemplative interval conducted by the writer and scholar Christina Sharpe in collaboration with Torkwase Dyson's "Hypershapes."

Poetry. African & African American Studies. Latinx Studies. Art.

Genres: Poetry

80 pages, Paperback

First published November 2, 2021

Reviews

[Megsie · Rating 5 out of 5]

An incredible work by both poets. I am not good at writing about poetry, so I will just say it's very good and I recommend to all.

[Cody Stetzel · Rating 5 out of 5]

Both Ceballos and Baker are doing such extraordinary work as poets. The Seattle scene is truly lucky to bear witness to such talent.