In a new memoir and poetry collection, FAS lecturer Danielle Chapman uses fierce empathy and a moral imagination to come to terms with personal and historical tragedy.
This has been a busy year for Danielle Chapman, whose memoir, Holler: A Poet Among Patriots, was released from Unbound Edition Press last fall, and whose poetry collection, Boxed Juice, also from UEP, comes out on October 8. Both works contend with dichotomous themes such as hope and despair, speaking out and silence, and “blessedness-in-forsakenness.”
In Holler: A Poet among Patriots, Chapman uses an empathetic but critical eye to reveal the authentic people who loved her – and appalled her. A novelistic memoir written by a poet, Holler is divided into portraits that examine the Deep South, the people who live there, and the long history of racial violence and injustice. A difficult, brilliant book, Holler explores the inheritance of historical trauma that needs to be faced to be understood.
Read more here.