Book description
" Winner of the 35th Annual Lillian Smith Book Award, 2004 A
BookSense 76 Spring 2004 Top 10 Poetry Book! Read an excerpt from the
book Listen to Frank X Walker reading on NPR's ""This I
Believe"" segment of Morning Edition. This collection of
persona poems tells the story of the infamous Lewis & Clark
expedition from the point of view of Clark's personal slave, York. The
poems form a narrative of York's inner and outer journey, before, during
and after the expedition--a journey from slavery to freedom, from the
plantation to the great northwest, from servant to soul yearning to be
free. Over the course of the saga and through the poems, we are treated
to subtle and overt commentaries on literacy, slavery, native Americans,
buffalo, the environment, and more. Though Buffalo Dance purposely
references historic accounts and facts, it is fictionalized poetry, and
Frank X Walker's rare blend of history and art breathes life into an
important but overlooked historical figure. Frank X Walker is the author
of Affrilachia and the soon to be released Black Box , two collections
of poetry. He teaches in the department of English & Theatre and is
the interim Director of the African/African American Studies Program at
Eastern Kentucky University. He is also a visiting professor in Pan
African Studies department at the University of Louisville. A 2004
recipient of the Lillian Smith Book Award, he lives in Lexington, KY.
Click here for Frank Walker's website.
