Overview

Enzo Silon Surin's poetry brings an honest lyricism to the body of work by people of African descent that began in the eighteenth century in a country that struggles to realize its ideals. Inspired by such heroic voices as Martinique’ s Aimé Cé saire, Surin brings his Haitian roots to bear on the landscape of America in an epic sweep of incantatory rhythms evoking the enduring spirit of the African Diaspora. The immediacy of his poetry is grounded in his sense of history, as twenty-first century black immigrants come to the U.S. to negotiate race and culture. His delicate unveiling of hurt and courage are the American story in miniature. He is the poet as warrior priest, his work the prophet's homily redefining what it means to become and be an American.” — AFAA MICHAEL WEAVER

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9781625570505

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Reviews

"""Through his own distinctive path, Enzo Silon Surin bears witness to the complexities of the Black experience in America. These poems examine the hard edges and paradoxes as a way of illuminating them as he grapples with violence, injustice, masculinity, intimacy, and fatherhood. How does one locate themselves in this American landscape? American Scapegoat is a remarkable testament to the power of language, marked with intensity, radiance, and hope.""--January Gill O'Neil ""The poems in American Scapegoat are not for the faint of heart. Wrapped masterfully in poetry's artful tongue, they do not seek absolution nor do they apologize as the collection indicts American racism and its bloated, systemic injustices. Heightening the reader's experience with a surgically precise interrogation of form in poems like ""American Lexicon,"" ""Prelude,"" and ""American Witness,"" Enzo Silon Surin writes against our fears and shines bright the hope we dare have for our sons.""--Frank X Walker"

Author Information

Enzo Silon Surin is a Haitian-born award-winning poet, author, educator, publisher and social advocate. He’ s taught, performed, and lectured on topics such as social justice, the immigrant experience, and racial disparities. He is the author of American Scapegoat (Black Lawrence Press, 2023) and When My Body Was A Clinched Fist (Black Lawrence Press), winner of the Massachusetts Book Award. He’ s also authored two chapbooks and is co-editor of Where We Stand: Poems of Black Resilience (Cherry Castle Publishing). Surin is Publisher at Central Square Press and Founder/Executive Director at the Faraday Publishing Company, Inc.

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