Jones, Gayl: Song for Almeyda and Song for Anninho

‘Gayl Jones‘s work represents a watershed in American literature . . . her truth-telling, filled with beauty, tragedy, humour and incisiveness, is unmatched‘ Imani Perry Two epic poems brimming with intimacy, history and revolution, from the acclaimed writer of Palmares and Corregidora. When the Portuguese attack Palmares, Brazil‘s last fugitive slave enclave, Almeyda and her husband are separated as they flee from the destruction. Amid the flight and re-enslavement of the inhabitants, their narrative emerges. Two powerful poems give voice to the lovers: Almeyda‘s passionate lament for Anninho, whom she believes has been killed, is combined with his response as he searches for her. Their story is one of longing - for each other, for freedom - and for revolution. ‘A once-in-a-lifetime work of literature, the kind that changes your understanding of the world‘ Yara Rodrigues Fowler on Palmares ‘Page after breathtaking page, her prose is intricate, mesmerizing, and endlessly inventive‘ Deesha Philyaw on Palmares ‘ Jones‘s writing powerfully blends narrative and lyricism‘ Margo Jefferson