Edited by Carol Morrell, this anthology contains both poetry and prose by NourbeSe Philip. There are 18 poems, with selections from each of her books, as well as, The Absence of Writing or How I Almost Became a Spy – the introductory essay from “She Tries her Tongue…”, Whose Idea Was It Anyway? a short story first published in Tessera and two chapters from “Looking for Livingstone” – a novel in poetry and prose.
The poems include:
from Thorns
Oliver Twist
Fluttering Lives
Jongwe
Blackman Dead
Three Times Deny
E. Pulcherrima
from Salmon Courage
Anonymous
Sprung Rhythm
A Habit of Angels
Salmon Courage
July Again
What’s in a Name?
You Can’t Push Now
Planned Obsolescence
from She Tries Her Tongue
Her Silence Softly Breaks
And Over Every Land and Sea
Discourse on the Logic of language
The Question of Language is the Answer to Power
Grammar of Dissent also features the work of Claire Harris and Dionne Brand. Together these three writers are described as being “among Canada’s most powerful writers”