Jake Skeets
Auteur de Eyes Bottle Dark with a Mouthful of Flowers: Poems (National Poetry Series)
Œuvres de Jake Skeets
Oeuvres associées
When the Light of the World Was Subdued, Our Songs Came Through: A Norton Anthology of Native Nations Poetry (2020) — Contributeur — 257 exemplaires
Living Nations, Living Words: An Anthology of First Peoples Poetry (2021) — Contributeur — 82 exemplaires
The Best American Poetry 2022 (The Best American Poetry series) (2022) — Contributeur — 43 exemplaires
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Statistiques
- Œuvres
- 1
- Aussi par
- 5
- Membres
- 78
- Popularité
- #229,022
- Évaluation
- 4.4
- Critiques
- 4
- ISBN
- 2
His collection came to my attention though the podcast, “Between the Covers,” which is loosely associated with publisher Tin House Books. Tin House focuses on supporting underrepresented writers and often produces sparkling, brilliant new works that deserve top ratings and huge sales. The reason it’s important to mention that is because hearing Skeets read and talk about some of his poetry on the podcast is an impressive experience. In his reading, listeners hear and even feel his emotions, his pain and, conversely, his excitement to be sharing his work. It is what drew me into purchasing the book.
What works in Skeets’ poetry is its ability to evoke images and inspire feelings. His mother tongue is much better suited to doing this than English because the culture of that language deals in images, nature symbolism, metaphor and similes, and in supporting a culture of caring for one another, of neighbors spread across miles who still know each other well, who share even when there is nothing to share. Friends are addressed as “uncle” and close friends as “grandfather.”
Conversely, English comes from a culture where the individual is regarded more highly than the family or group and where the language primarily uses the passive voice and ‘state of being’ verbs.
Thus, Skeets had a natural leg up for writing vivid poetry.
On the other hand, cultural isolation has left Skeets forced to use images, descriptions and contexts which cannot be easily understood outside his culture.
Since the purpose of all art is to convey meaning and a message, art must rely upon references and symbols that non-artists can understand. This is even more true with poetry where the aim of the message is to evoke feelings and emotional response.
The poems of this collection that deal with situations, images and symbols too unique to Skeets’ own personal and cultural experience and culture, and cannot carry their full impact beyond a small audience. The poems within the collection that use more readily accessed symbols and images are sure to be appreciated and loved by a broader audience.
I hope people will find and listen to the podcast I mentioned because this poet deserves a good audience, but the book alone will not deliver one.… (plus d'informations)