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In his fourth collection, a breakthrough volume, Major Jackson appropriates the vernacular notion of "rolling deep" to capture the spirit of aesthetic travel that defines these forceful new poems and brazenly announces his steady accretion of literary and artistic influences, both formal and experimental-his "crew". The confident and radiant poems in
Roll Deep address a range of topics, most prominently human intimacy and war. And like his best work to date, these poems create new experiences with language owed to Jackson's willingness to once again seek a rhythmic sound that expresses the unique realities of the twenty-first century with humour and understanding. Whether set in Nairobi, Madrid or Greece, the poems are sensuously evocative and unapologetically with-it, in their effort to build community across borders of language and style.
About the author
Major Jackson is the author of six volumes of poetry. His honors include a Pushcart Prize, a Whiting Award, and fellowships from the Guggenheim Foundation and the National Endowment for the Arts. The poetry editor of the Harvard Review and the host of the podcast The Slowdown, Jackson lives in Nashville, Tennessee, where he is the Gertrude Conaway Vanderbilt Chair in the Humanities at Vanderbilt University. He is an elected member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.
Summary
A whimsical and “devastatingly effective” (The Washington Post) collection that captures the spirit of travel and pays homage to heritage.
