Well, poet Rachel Eliza Griffiths just disrupted my initial plan to take a break from blogging about poetry today. I just saw the book trailer for her upcoming volume of poems Mule & Pear. Since I've been hoping and waiting to see book trailers for volumes of poetry by African American poets, I couldn't resist at least mentioning the trailer here.
I've been hearing about or more accurately viewing Griffiths' presence on the black poetry scene for a minute now. Most notably, I've seen her credited as the photographer for a number of striking images of authors. Given my interest in the photography of literary figures and activity, especially related to poet Eugene B. Redmond's extensive visual documentations of black artists, I had taken note to pay attention to what Griffiths was doing as a poet and photographer.
The book trailer includes images of black women, Nina Simone's song "Feeling Good" as the soundtrack, and short excerpts of writings, presumably poems by Griffiths. The women in the video are shown in different poses, some wearing far out attire.
I probably did not need much convincing to check out Griffiths's book, given my ongoing research on persona poems by African American poets. Still, I'm excited about the implications of a book trailer focusing on a volume of African American poetry.
Back in June, I wrote about the series of trailers released for Scott Poulson-Bryant's The VIPs. Like Poulson-Bryant's trailer, Griffiths's book trailer offers a useful way of building interest for literary art with new media like youtube.
Griffiths had already been building establishing herself as a noted poet and photographer; the release of this video further solidifies her reputation as poet and visual artist. Let's stay tuned for what else she produces.
Here's the Mule & Pear trailer on vimeo.
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• Rachel Eliza Griffiths
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