Welcome to our online companion for careful readers and teachers of M. NourbeSe Philip’s work. You will find reviews and analysis of her books, interviews with Philip, as well as other writings from her. Philip provides classroom resources to assist in the teaching of her book.
M. NourbeSe Philip is a poet, writer, and lawyer whose previous collections of poetry include She Tries Her Tongue, Her Silence Softly Breaks (1989). Born in Tobago, she now resides in Toronto, Ontario.
Zong! is equal parts song, moan, shout, oath, ululation, curse and chant. It excavates the legal text to reveal the irrational at the heart of “reason.” Memory, history, and law collide only to metamorphose into the poetics of the fragment.
To order a copy of Zong!, visit the book page.
She Tries Her Tongue, Her Silence Softly Breaks was originally published in 1989 and won the Casa de Las Americas Prize. In this groundbreaking collection, Philip defiantly challenges and resoundingly overthrows the silencing of black women through appropriation of language, offering no less than superb poetry resonant with beauty and strength. This new Wesleyan edition includes a foreword by Evie Shockley.
To order a copy of She Tries Her Tongue, Her Silence Softly Breaks, visit the book page.
If you have any questions or experience problems with our site, please contact: selliott@wesleyan.edu.
