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A review by poisonenvy
Execution Poems: The Black Acadian Tragedy of "George and Rue" by George Elliott Clarke
dark
emotional
medium-paced
4.0
I first picked up this poetry collection about ten years ago, for a class on Crime Fiction which I ended up dropping (it turns out that once-a-weel, three-hour classes that run until 10pm were not great for keeping the focus of a 19-year-old me). It tells the story of George and Rufus Hamilton, cousins of George Elliott Clarke, who were hanged before he was born.
I finally read it today as part of my goal to read one short story/some poetry a day. The entire boon was only 44 pages long, and so I decided to read the whole thing.
I'm hardly a great judge of poetry, and it's certainly not my place to talk about how the book handled the racism of Nova Scotia at in the early 1900s, but I thought this was well done. It was raw and brutal, filled with a lot of violence (including sexual violence). George Elliot Clarke doesn't shy away from using the rough and brutal language to describe these things, but with the occasional beautiful line that really shines.
I finally read it today as part of my goal to read one short story/some poetry a day. The entire boon was only 44 pages long, and so I decided to read the whole thing.
I'm hardly a great judge of poetry, and it's certainly not my place to talk about how the book handled the racism of Nova Scotia at in the early 1900s, but I thought this was well done. It was raw and brutal, filled with a lot of violence (including sexual violence). George Elliot Clarke doesn't shy away from using the rough and brutal language to describe these things, but with the occasional beautiful line that really shines.