Walking Naked

At the press, I have been head-deep in the final details of wrapping up a prodigious poetry anthology called Temba Tupu (Walking Naked): Africana Women's Poetic Self-Portrait. This invariably means that I am combing every page of the latest proof to make sure all is in good order--and since this is poetry, it is at once easier to do so and more difficult as well. Minor textual anomalities in poetry books occur often and if you are used to looking at prose, as I am, then reviewing an anthology of poetry by some of the world's foremost women poets (like Sonia Sanchez, Nikki Giovanni, and Rita Dove) presents a few challenges. For one, there is more creative energy on the formatted page. Experimentation is rife.And it remains tempting to read some of the poems over and over again. Yes, they are that good. That brave.