Song for Almeyda and Song for Anninho

Gayl Jones''s work represents a watershed in American literature. From a literary standpoint, her form is impeccable; from a historical standpoint, she stands at the very cutting edge of understanding the modern world, and as a Black woman writer, her truth-telling, filled with beauty, tragedy, humour, and incisiveness, is unmatched. Jones is a writer''s writer, and her influence is found everywhere>

Préface
From the acclaimed author of *Corregidora, this volume contains poems in the voices of the lovers Almeyda and Anninho, two fugitive slaves in 17th-century Brazil; a continuation of the unforgettable journey of the characters of Gayl Jones's masterwork, *Palmares (2021)

Auteur
Gayl Jones was born in Kentucky in 1949. She attended Connecticut College and Brown University and has taught at Wellesley and the University of Michigan. Her books include Corregidora (1975), Eva's Man (1976), The Healing (1998), which was a National Book Award finalist, Palmares (2021), which was shortlisted for the Pulitzer Prize in fiction and longlisted for the Rathbones Folio Prize, and The Birdcatcher (2022), which was also a National Book Award Finalist.

Texte du rabat

'Gayl Jones's work represents a watershed in American literature . . . her truth-telling, filled with beauty, tragedy, humour and incisiveness, is unmatched' Imani Perry

Two epic poems brimming with intimacy, history and revolution, from the acclaimed writer of Palmares and Corregidora.

When the Portuguese attack Palmares, Brazil's last fugitive slave enclave, Almeyda and her husband are separated as they flee from the destruction. Amid the flight and re-enslavement of the inhabitants, their narrative emerges.

Two powerful poems give voice to the lovers: Almeyda's passionate lament for Anninho, whom she believes has been killed, is combined with his response as he searches for her. Their story is one of longing - for each other, for freedom - and for revolution.

'A once-in-a-lifetime work of literature, the kind that changes your understanding of the world' Yara Rodrigues Fowler on Palmares

'Page after breathtaking page, her prose is intricate, mesmerizing, and endlessly inventive' Deesha Philyaw on **Palmares

'Jones's writing powerfully blends narrative and lyricism' Margo Jefferson

Résumé

By the acclaimed writer of Palmares and Corregidora.

When the Portuguese attack Palmares, Brazil's last fugitive slave enclave, Almeyda and her husband are separated as they flee from the destruction. Amid the flight and re-enslavement of the inhabitants, their narrative emerges.

Two powerful, epic poems give voice to the lovers: Almeyda's passionate lament for Anninho, whom she believes has been killed, is combined with his response as he searches for her. Their story is one of longing - for each other, for freedom - and for revolution.

'I want to stay here, Anninho.'
'There won't be any way
you can stay here.
When they catch us,
they'll take you back.'
'The men they kill,
the women they take back.'