Black Swan

Winner of the 2001 Cave Canem Prize

Selected by Marilyn Nelson

Finalist, 2003 Paterson Poetry Prize

"Imagine Leda black--" begins Lyrae Van Clief-Stefanon's exciting new collection of poems. Mixing vernacular language with classical mythology, modern struggles with Biblical trials, she gives voice to silenced women past and present.

In Van Clief-Stefanon's powerful voice, last night's angry words "puffed / into the dark room like steam / punching through the thick surface / of cooking grits." She remembers a child's innocence "lost / in the house where I learned the red rug / against my chest, my knees / my tongue, . . . ." Black Swan is filled with pain, loss, hope, and the promise of salvation.

Author: Lyrae Van Clief-Stefanon
Publisher: University of Pittsburgh Press
Published: 11/24/2002
Pages: 72
Binding Type: Paperback
Weight: 0.24lbs
Size: 8.52h x 6.28w x 0.26d
ISBN: 9780822957874

Review Citation(s):
Univ PR Books for Public Libry 01/01/2003 pg. 74 - Strongly Recommended
Black Issues Book Review 03/01/2004 pg. 27

About the Author
Lyrae Van Clief-Stefanon is the author of ] Open Interval [, a finalist for the National Book Award and the LA Times Book Prize, and Black Swan, winner of the Cave Canem Poetry Prize and finalist for the Paterson Poetry Prize. She has been awarded fellowships from Cave Canem, the Lannan Foundation, Civitella Ranieri, and the New York State Council on the Arts/New York Foundation for the Arts.