Yomi reveals this world sometimes through a style of writing which is close to a stream-of-consciousness. In poems exploring family, survival, generational trauma and the complexities of belonging, Manorism is an examination of the lives of Black British men and boys. If the measure of a work of art or literature is the level of insight the reader gains into the artist’s world, then ‘Manorism’ succeeds supremely well.

this collection is really brilliant, and i think so especially having seen sode perform parts of it aloud. I agree with another reviewer, who mentioned that Sode's poetry perhaps works more effectively as oral performance. Yomi Sode is a talent and an absolute wave in this century’s poets, you have to give this collection a read for yourself!

This is not a criticism but it seems to me that Sode's poetry works more effectively as oral, performance verse rather than textual, written-down verse - its complexity and power is in the emotion and ideas that are articulated with force and a directness that is about a strong voice and a pointed passion.

As it stands, many of the poems in this collection reference Caravaggio and his paintings, exploring the fact that people still comment on the artists greatness and importance in the history of the Baroque movement, failing to acknowledge the horrifying truth. I know what it is to be a black woman, but even as a sister to brothers, I never truly appreciated the difference in what black men carry.Why is it that a famous white artist is now celebrated, but if a man or woman of another race was to commit those same crimes, they would be remembered in bad light and their actions would be constantly talked about by society? There is a love letter to his son, the sad end of Big Mummy and the rituals for the embalming of Okonkwo.

Tender, lyrical, questioning, fierce, these poems make you think about the world we live in and how we treat the black men in it . i could not recommend this more, i recommend this to even people like me who usually don’t read poetry. What I did not like was how I Jumped on the net galley app and on google because I had to translate some words. My thanks to NetGalley for making an advance copy available to me so that I might provide an honest and unbiased review. Publication dates are subject to change (although this is an extremely uncommon occurrence overall).He speaks not only to the moments we might falter in the face of our mourning but also to how we might rebuild, how we might not only survive those who pass, but thrive. Hotjar sets this cookie to know whether a user is included in the data sampling defined by the site's pageview limit.

The poems turn from an observational, plainly descriptive register to a more poetic perspective effortlessly. These experiences and perceptions are portrayed through a wide range of linguistic devices – poems, vignettes, prose, idiomatic use of English (e. The 103 third parties who use cookies on this service do so for their purposes of displaying and measuring personalized ads, generating audience insights, and developing and improving products. Yomi Sode's debut articulates the most subtle nuances of Black British Masculinity with a breathtaking vulnerability.It doesn't require the extended textual attention that the poetry of, say, Derek Walcott requires with its complex multilayered allusions and intertexts, metaphors and puns and wordplay with switching modes of prosody. Sode talks about a number of topics, from black Britishness to masculinity, community and popular culture. It also sits well alongside Caleb Azumah Nelson's Open Water which opens up a mode through which to articulate the emotional and vulnerable side of Black masculinity that is all too often eroded and erased by cultural stereotypes.