The Tradition (poetry collection)

The Tradition
L. Ralphi Burgess, You're in the Middle of the World, ca. 2017, acrylic and mixed media, 18" × 25"[1]
AuthorJericho Brown
Audio read byJD Jackson
Cover artistLauren Ralphi Burgess
LanguageEnglish
GenrePoetry
PublisherCopper Canyon Press
Publication date
April 2, 2019
Publication placeUnited States
Media typePrint (paperback and hardcover), e-book
Pages110 (paperback)
AwardsPulitzer Prize for Poetry (2020)
ISBN978-1-55659-486-1 (paperback)
OCLC1113894902
811/.6
LC ClassPS3602.R699 A6 2019
Preceded byThe New Testament 

The Tradition is a 2019 poetry collection by American poet Jericho Brown.[2]

The collection won the 2020 Pulitzer Prize for Poetry.[3] Judges of the prize called the book "a collection of masterful lyrics that combine delicacy with historical urgency in their loving evocation of bodies vulnerable to hostility and violence."[4]

Contents

I
  • "Ganymede"
  • "As a Human Being"
  • "Flower"
  • "The Microscopes"
  • "The Tradition"
  • "Hero"
  • "After Another Country"
  • "The Water Lilies"
  • "Foreday in the Morning"
  • "The Card Tables"
  • "Bullet Points"
  • "Duplex"
  • "The Trees"
  • "Second Language"
  • "After Avery R. Young"
  • "A Young Man"
II
  • "Duplex"
  • "Riddle"
  • "Good White People"
  • "Correspondence"
  • "Trojan"
  • "The Legend of Big and Fine"
  • "The Peaches"
  • "Night Shift"
  • "Shovel"
  • "The Long Way"
  • "Dear Whiteness"
  • "Of the Swan"
  • "Entertainment Industry"
  • "Stake"
  • "Layover"
III
  • "Duplex"
  • "Of My Fury"
  • "After Essex Hemphill"
  • "Stay"
  • "A.D."
  • "Turn You Over"
  • "The Virus"
  • "The Rabbits"
  • "Monotheism"
  • "Token"
  • "The Hammers"
  • "I Know What I Love"
  • "Crossing"
  • "Deliverance"
  • "Meditations at the New Orleans Jazz National Historical Park"
  • "Dark"
  • "Duplex"
  • "Thighs and Ass"
  • "Cakewalk"
  • "Stand"
  • "Duplex: Cento"

Reception

At the review aggregator website Book Marks, which assigns individual ratings to book reviews from mainstream literary critics, the collection received a cumulative "Rave" rating based on 18 reviews: 12 "Rave" reviews, 5 "Positive" reviews, and 1 "Mixed" review.[5]

Publishers Weekly called it "searing" and wrote that Jericho's duplex form "yields compelling results".[6]

Elizabeth Lund of The Washington Post called it "compelling and forceful because it wonderfully balances the dark demands of memory and an indomitable strength."[7]

Awards and recognition

Year Award Category Result Ref
2019 National Book Award Poetry Longlisted [8][9][10]
2019 National Book Critics Circle Award Poetry Shortlisted [11]
2020 Lambda Literary Award Gay Poetry Shortlisted [12]
2020 Pulitzer Prize Poetry Won [13]

Publication history

References

  1. ^ "The Tradition by Jericho Brown". Copper Canyon Press. Retrieved May 13, 2020.
  2. ^ "2020 Pulitzer Prize Winners". www.pulitzer.org.
  3. ^ Maher, John (May 4, 2020). "Moser, Whitehead, McDaniel, Grandin, Boyer, Brown Win 2020 Pulitzers". Publishers Weekly. Retrieved May 13, 2020.
  4. ^ "Book Marks reviews of The Tradition by Jericho Brown". Book Marks. Literary Hub. Retrieved May 13, 2020.
  5. ^ "Poetry Book Review: The Tradition by Jericho Brown". Publishers Weekly. April 15, 2019. Retrieved May 13, 2020.
  6. ^ Lund, Elizabeth (April 8, 2019). "Listen up: Four poets have something to say about race, gender and violence". The Washington Post. Retrieved May 13, 2020.
  7. ^ "2019 National Book Awards Longlist for Poetry". National Book Foundation. September 2019. Retrieved May 13, 2020.
  8. ^ "The 2019 National Book Awards Longlist: Poetry". The New Yorker. September 18, 2019. Retrieved May 13, 2020.
  9. ^ Wappler, Margaret (September 18, 2019). "10 poets make the National Book Awards longlist". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved May 13, 2020.
  10. ^ "2019 Winners & Finalists". National Book Critics Circle Award. Retrieved May 13, 2020.
  11. ^ "The Tradition, by Jericho Brown (Copper Canyon Press)". The Pulitzer Prizes. Retrieved May 13, 2020.
  12. ^ Yee, Katie (March 10, 2020). "Here are the finalists for the 2020 Lambda Literary Awards!". Literary Hub. Retrieved May 13, 2020.