Olio (poetry collection)

Last updated
Olio (book).jpg
AuthorTyehimba Jess
LanguageEnglish
GenrePoetry
PublisherSeattle Wave Books
Publication date
2016
Pages235
ISBN 978-1-940696-22-5 (Hardcover)
OCLC 1004655645

Olio is a book of poetry written by Tyehimba Jess that was released in 2016. [1] The book is split into 16 sections, 14 of which are poems with the introduction section and extras and acknowledgments acting as the beginning and ending sections, and illustrated by Jessica Lynne Brown. Olio won the 2017 Pulitzer Prize for Poetry. [2]

Contents

Purpose

Jess' purpose behind writing Olio was to put together the work of first-generation freed slaves to share their story and their suffering, as well as to create a piece of work that each reader will experience differently. [3]

"Fix your eyes on the flex of these first-generation-freed voices: They coalesce in counterpoint, name nemeses, summon tongue to wit-ness. Weave your own chosen way between these voices". (Jess 3)

Characters

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Poetry slam</span> Competition arts event

A poetry slam is a competitive art event in which poets perform spoken word poetry before a live audience and a panel of judges. While formats can vary, slams are often loud and lively, with audience participation, cheering and dramatic delivery. Hip-hop music and urban culture are strong influences, and backgrounds of participants tend to be diverse.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pulitzer Prize for Poetry</span> American award for distinguished poetry

The Pulitzer Prize for Poetry is one of the seven American Pulitzer Prizes awarded annually for Letters, Drama, and Music. It was first presented in 1922, and is given for a distinguished volume of original verse by an American author, published during the preceding calendar year.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Richard Wilbur</span> American poet (1921–2017)

Richard Purdy Wilbur was an American poet and literary translator. One of the foremost poets of his generation, Wilbur's work, composed primarily in traditional forms, was marked by its wit, charm, and gentlemanly elegance. He was appointed the second Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress in 1987 and received the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry twice, in 1957 and 1989.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Frank Bidart</span> American poet

Frank Bidart is an American academic and poet, and a winner of the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sharon Olds</span> American poet

Sharon Olds is an American poet. Olds won the first San Francisco Poetry Center Award in 1980, the 1984 National Book Critics Circle Award, and the 2013 Pulitzer Prize in Poetry. She teaches creative writing at New York University and is a previous director of the Creative Writing Program at NYU.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sissieretta Jones</span> American soprano singer

Matilda Sissieretta Joyner Jones was an American soprano. She sometimes was called "The Black Patti" in reference to Italian opera singer Adelina Patti. Jones' repertoire included grand opera, light opera, and popular music. Trained at the Providence Academy of Music and the New England Conservatory of Music, Jones made her New York debut in 1888 at Steinway Hall, and four years later she performed at the White House for President Benjamin Harrison. She eventually sang for four consecutive presidents and the British royal family, and met with international success. Besides the United States and the West Indies, Jones toured in South America, Australia, India, southern Africa, and Europe.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ben Lerner</span> American writer

Benjamin S. Lerner is an American poet, novelist, essayist, and critic. He has been a Fulbright Scholar, a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction, a finalist for the National Book Award, a finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award, a Howard Foundation Fellow, a Guggenheim Fellow, and a MacArthur Fellow, among other honors. In 2011 he won the "Preis der Stadt Münster für internationale Poesie", the first American to receive the honor. Lerner teaches at Brooklyn College, where he was named a Distinguished Professor of English in 2016.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tracy K. Smith</span> American poet

Tracy K. Smith is an American poet and educator. She served as the 22nd Poet Laureate of the United States from 2017 to 2019. She has published four collections of poetry, winning the Pulitzer Prize for her 2011 volume Life on Mars. Her memoir, Ordinary Light, was published in 2015.

Olio may refer to:

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Copper Canyon Press</span> American independent non-profit literary publisher

Copper Canyon Press is an independent, non-profit small press, specializing in the publication of poetry and located in Port Townsend, Washington. Since 1972, the Press has published poetry exclusively.

Word Riot was an American online magazine that published poetry, flash fiction, short stories, novel excerpts, creative nonfiction, reviews, and interviews.

Four Way Books is an American nonprofit literary press located in New York City, New York, which publishes poetry and short fiction by emerging and established writers. It features the work of the winners of national poetry competitions, as well as collections accepted through general submission, panel selection, and solicitation by the editors. The press is run by director and founding editor Martha Rhodes, who is the author of five poetry collections. Four Way Books titles are distributed by University of Chicago Press. The press has received grants from New York State Council on the Arts, the National Endowment for the Arts, and The Council of Literary Magazines and Presses through their re-grant program.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Arthur Sze</span> American poet (born 1950)

Arthur Sze is an American poet, translator, and professor. Since 1972, he has published ten collections of poetry. Sze's ninth collection Compass Rose (2014) was a finalist for the 2015 Pulitzer Prize for Poetry. Sze's tenth collection Sight Lines (2019) won the 2019 National Book Award for Poetry.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tyehimba Jess</span> American poet

Tyehimba Jess is an American poet. His book Olio received the 2017 Pulitzer Prize for Poetry.

Jericho Brown is an American poet and writer. Born and raised in Shreveport, Louisiana, Brown has worked as an educator at institutions such as University of Houston, San Diego State University, and Emory University. His poems have been published in The Nation, New England Review, The New Republic, Oxford American, and The New Yorker, among others. He released his first book of prose and poetry, Please, in 2008. His second book, The New Testament, was released in 2014. His 2019 collection of poems, The Tradition, garnered widespread critical acclaim.

Cave Canem Foundation is an American 501(c)(3) organization founded in 1996 by poets Toi Derricotte and Cornelius Eady to remedy the underrepresentation and isolation of African-American poets in Master of Fine Arts (MFA) programs and writing workshops across the United States. It is based in Brooklyn, New York.

Frontier Poetry is an American poetry magazine and publisher based in Portland, Oregon and Los Angeles, California. Established in 2016 by founding editors, Kim Winternheimer and Joshua Roark, the publication serves a platform for publishing and discovering new and emerging poets. It actively seeking work from previously unpublished writers. Frontier Poetry receives over 70,000 visitors monthly, and as of December 2017 is ranked in top five page rank for online poetry publishers on the web.

This article contains information about the literary events and publications of 2017.

Nationality words link to articles with information on the nation's poetry or literature.

Kima Jones is an American writer, poet and literary publicist. She is the founder of the Jack Jones Literary Arts, a literary publicity firm.

References

  1. "Fiction Book Review: Olio by Tyehimba Jess". Publishers Weekly. Retrieved 2017-02-18.
  2. 2017 Pulitzer Prize Winners and Nominees, The Pulitzer Prizes, 2017, retrieved 10 April 2017
  3. "It's All in the Wind: A Review of Olio by Tyehimba Jess". Tupelo Quarterly. 2016-11-28. Retrieved 2017-02-18.