Reviews

1919 by Eve L. Ewing

theseventhl's review against another edition

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5.0

Absolutely stunning, emotionally devastating collection of poetry that also functions as a history lesson and a warning that we as a society have not gotten better since 1919 in terms of the systemic abuse and violence against Black people in the United States. I hope people also read Ewing's GHOSTS IN THE SCHOOLYARD which is a non-fiction book about the way the Chicago public school system has failed Black youth.

rwalker101's review against another edition

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emotional informative reflective slow-paced

5.0

cortingbooks's review against another edition

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dark emotional informative reflective sad medium-paced

4.0


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meghangragg's review against another edition

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dark reflective sad slow-paced

3.75

ginalyn's review against another edition

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challenging emotional reflective medium-paced

5.0

I enjoyed the addition of the excerpts from a historical document. I think it gave extra context for those of us (ahem, me) who may struggle to fully wrap their heads around poetry. I loved the cadence of these. The nursery rhyme one specifically made me think. It made me cry. It made me want to do more to be more educated. I need to be less of a bystander which is pointed out within this book. Truly amazing, to use a singular event to transcend time and lines creating a discussion of what is need now.

bananafreckles's review against another edition

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emotional informative reflective sad tense fast-paced

4.0

cgcpoems's review against another edition

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dark emotional informative medium-paced

4.5

This is the second collection I’ve read and loved from Eve Ewing. Ewing uses outside sources, history, and research in her work in a way that is unique to her goals and her writing voice—others have done this, but none quite like her. This collection in particular is about The Chicago Race Riot of 1919, and concludes with one of my favorite Ewing poems (“I saw Emmett Till this week at the grocery store”). 

I would recommend this collection to anyone, but particularly those that are hoping to learn about American history that’s often neglected in the classroom.

clankyrobot's review against another edition

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reflective fast-paced

4.0

jpsiphonophorae's review against another edition

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5.0

I am not a poetry person, but when I started dogearing the pages for poems I enjoyed or was impacted by, I found that I had marked over half the book. What a stunning collection.

pink_distro's review against another edition

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4.0

i don't really know anything about poetry! but i do occasionally like reading poems so i thought this would be a good starting book and indeed it was. eve ewing is great at using sort of magical imagery to give historical events the emotional force that they deserve. short beautiful book