Earlier this year Norton/Liveright published Skip Tracer by Jive Poetic. I will admit my unhipness when I confess Jive Poetic was a new voice to me—I wasn’t even sure if he was one person or a collective! And while that admission is embarrassing, it also served me as I read this exciting book, a memoir-in-poems, as Jive Poetic “contain(s) multitudes” and explores identity/multiple identities. His book is formatted like a DJ’s set list. (Jive Poetic is also DJ…) Through sections that invoke cassettes, reels, turntables, 45s, and a bonus track, he invokes the poet’s family and ancestors, including his grandfather “Skip.” Jive Poetic writes in his introduction “there are beats when I am you and me, and we are all of us in the mix.” Now I can attest I’m a tiny bit hipper. Now I can attest I’m a fan. You can hear him reading the first poem “Go Home” from the collection here:
And read a little about his process here:
https://poetrysociety.org/poems-essays/in-their-own-words/jive-poetic-on
Congratulations, Jive!
Wow! I had to watch this a few times, and now I think I'll watch it again.
Posted by: Nin Andrews | September 25, 2024 at 10:32 AM