Between the Night and Its Music: New and Selected Poems (Wesleyan Poetry Series)

Synopsis

A. B. Spellman is an acclaimed American poet, music critic, and arts administrator. He is widely recognized as a leading figure in the Black Arts Movement of the 1960s and 1970s, a cultural and literary movement that emphasized Black identity, pride, and artistic expression. Between the Night and Its Music brings together A. B. Spellman's early work with a collection of powerful new poems. Spellman's literary career took flight in 1965 with his debut poetry collection, The Beautiful Days, which introduced his distinctive voice blending elements of jazz, blues, and African oral traditions. In 1966, Four Lives in the Bebop Business established Spellman as a respected music critic and scholar. It was a groundbreaking work that chronicled the lives and struggles of four influential jazz musicians. Spellman held senior positions at the National Endowment for the Arts for thirty years with lasting impact on arts funding for inner cities and rural and tribal communities. In addition to poems from The Beautiful Days (1965) and Things I Must Have Known (2008), this book contains a trove of new and uncollected poems, confirming Spellman's continued centrality to contemporary American literature. This is an essential volume for readers already familiar with Spellman, and an excellent introduction for new readers. Lauri Scheyer's introduction situates Spellman's work within jazz writing, Black Arts, and American poetry broadly.[sample text]THE TWISTa dancer's worldis walls, movementconfined: musicgod's last breath.rhythm: the last beating of his heart. a dancerfollows that sound, blindto its source, toward wallswith others. she cannot dance aloneshe thinks of thoughtas windows, as ice around the dancecan you break it? move

Copyright:

2024

Book Details

Book Quality:

Publisher Quality

Book Size:

208 Pages

ISBN-13:

9780819501202

Related ISBNs:

9780819501196

Publisher:

Wesleyan University Press

Date of Addition:

09/30/24

Copyrighted By:

A. B. Spellman. Introduction

Adult content:

No

Language:

English

Has Image Descriptions:

No

Categories:

Nonfiction, Poetry, Literature and Fiction, Social Studies, Music

Grade Levels:

Graduate Student

Submitted By:

Bookshare Staff

Usage Restrictions:

This is a copyrighted book.

Edited by:

Lauri Scheyer