‘Thrall’ by Natasha Trethewey, the poet laureate of the United StatesPosted in Articles, Book/Video Reviews, Media Archive, Poetry, United States on 2012-09-14 21:39Z by Steven |
‘Thrall’ by Natasha Trethewey, the poet laureate of the United States
The Washington Post
2012-09-13
Elizabeth Lund
Thrall. By Natasha Trethewey. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. 84 pp.
Natasha Trethewey’s “Thrall” is a must-read collection that equals the power and quality of her third book, “Native Guard,” which won the 2007 Pulitzer Prize . “Thrall” also demonstrates why this 46 -year-old writer is worthy of her recent appointment as poet laureate of the United States.
Trethewey, the daughter of an African American woman and a white man, explores racial attitudes and stereotypes throughout this slim volume, using both personal and historical lenses. The book opens with a gorgeous, understated poem about a fishing trip she and her father took years ago. That experience and their difficult relationship create an underlying tension that shapes the entire book. What readers notice first, though, is the poem’s engrossing imagery:
drizzle needling
the surface, mist at the banks like a net
settling around us —
everything damp
and shining…
Read the entire review here.