Renaissance

Ruth Forman

Fulfilling the promise of her debut and written with the same irrepressible voice, Forman's second book is a celebration of rebirth. Starting with the challenges of "Young Black Question" ("Who to say this sidewalk where to walk"), Forman traces a journey through history and family, death and loss, love and renaissance ("Peace, sisters, peace. I am born again"). By the end it is clear that Forman's renaissance - like the loss against which it is measured - is not just personal, but collective. The last section, which evokes the Harlem Renaissance and much more, celebrates the future, even against a sometimes bleak contemporary background. And like the final, title poem - a passionate manifesto that invokes foremothers and forefathers - the book as a whole is an affirmation of a new Renaissance of creative energy.

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