Yesterday it was announced that Jericho Brown’s The Tradition won the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry. Rarely has a collection displayed the depth and breadth of poet’s talent as well as this volume does. Blackness plays a big role in this book. And also, love, HIV and the substance of life itself. Gwendolyn Brooks is a definite influence, but Mr. Brown has a style that is all his own. It is, in fact, an entirely new poetic form which he calls, “The Duplex.” Scholars will be studying this for years to come. For this Queer Reader the result is poetry that is both readable and frequently startling.
All of the poems in this collection are superb. Some are instant classics. This queer reader’s personal favorites: “Shovel”, “Dear Whiteness”, “Mass Murder Blues”, “Of My Fury” and “The Virus”. In “The Token”, Mr. Brown turns to queer video booth stores as a source of edification.
Clearly Jericho Brown’s The Tradition is worthy of this important prize.
Jericho Brown’s The Tradition is published by Copper Canyon Press