“In the beginning, no one was around.” – Zachary Schomburg, “1977”
Before we start, I gotta come clean: even though this is a genre I really really like, I’m not sure I can get to 11 books. There is going to be at least one book on here that I haven’t read (UPDATE AFTER COMPILING: didn’t get to 11 books, only one book I haven’t read, though).
While I wanted the list to include entirely books like leadbelly or The Book Of Joshua (a biography and a fictional autobiography, respectively), I’m going to stretch the definition a little. If you can’t tell, I haven’t really made this list yet, beyond about four books, which I’ll list first. We’ll see if we get to 11. Honestly, going forward, these lists are probably going to shrink from 11 to a random number anyway. Pulling these all off the shelves, taking pictures, then shelving again could be joyous work, if I wasn’t already so busy. As it stands, it’s kind of a chore. Even though I really like making the book lists! It’s a truly fun exercise. Why should a fun exercise include a mountain of grunt work?
Anyway. To the shelves!
leadbelly by Tyehimba Jess
One of the two I listed above as primarily inspiring this list. This book takes Leadbelly’s life from his first forays into blues guitar playing, beating people up, and serving prison time, all the way up to the end of his life, which ends mostly the same way. Obviously, there’s a lot more to the man than that, but it is a pattern. There’s the exploitation and racism at the hands of many people, including John Lomax, who paradoxically catapults Leadbelly to fame and relative fortune. This book features some of the most dense and complex poetry I’ve ever read, but still tells a story. Still gets to the heart of the characters. Since reading this—first in 2021 and then again this year—I’ve heard people on podcasts/in articles be somewhat uncomplicated in their discussions of John Lomax as a folklorist. I think being a record-keeper and archivist is important, and I think Lomax accomplished a lot of useful things in his life. This book necessarily complicates the man. It’s poems, but it’s also important scholarship.
The Book Of Joshua by Zachary Schomburg
The other pillar of this article is a fictional series of prose poems, followed by one long poem. Each poem is titled after a year, presumably a year in the speaker’s life. It’s bizarre, unsettling, compelling, and for me? A Type Of Book I would like to write one day. One day I’ll do a personal ranking of Zach books, and I have a feeling this would be either two or three.
The Big Smoke by Adrian Matejka
Another early 20th century Black folk hero gets the poetic biography treatment! This book focuses on Jack Johnson. As someone who loves reading about boxing, this book holds a lot of appeal. Jack Johnson was larger than life, he made a nation of white supremacists mad simply by being good at his profession, and he reportedly spent well at Chicago’s Everleigh Club. Hey, Jesus hung out with sex workers, too.
I Do Know Some Things by Richard Siken
Okay, this is the one I haven’t read yet. Bob read a poem from it on a The Line Break a few months ago, and I’ve been wanting to get my hands on the book ever since. Of course, I completely forgot about its existence while at AWP. Whatever, man. I will get to this book, and I’m betting that you should, do. It is a series of autobiographical prose poems, and that’s all I know about it, but kinda all I need to know about it.
There Is News Along The Ohio River by Beth Gilstrap
Here we come to yet another variation on the “poetic auto/biography” genre. This book is a series of prose poems (that are actually lyric essays) that add up to a memoir. Each essay/poem/prose square begins with “there is news along the Ohio River” and then goes on a mental journey inspired by memories, sights, feelings, what have you. It’s a wonderful little book, a story of a period of time in a thoughtful writer’s life. Read this instead of watching literally any TV show about “finding yourself.”
The Book Of Delights by Ross Gay
If Ohio River is included, I think Ross Gay’s journal of delightful things belongs on this list, even though it is definitively not a biography or autobiography. It is a memoir of a year. The conceit is that he’s writing a “delight” down once a day, though of course there are not 365 poems in here. It’s a, uh, delightful book, and merits consideration for this list, but might expose that the list is starting to break apart.
What am I looking for? Leadbelly accounts for large portions of the man’s life, The Book Of Joshua begins each poem with a year title. I considered more than a few titles where I know the poet is writing about their own life, but it’s not quite what I’m thinking about for this list. A few books I bought at AWP this year seem like they could potentially fit this conceit. If you have more in mind that are like what I’m discussing here, by all means, comment down below. I think I will wrap this up at six, no wait, seven poetic (auto)////biographries.
Autobiography Of Red by Anne Carson
I’ve recommended this on previous booklists before, including on Mental Floss, so I won’t belabor the why too much. Just, this list wouldn’t be complete without maybe the greatest example of the form. Read Anne Carson!
(Yes, there is a sequel that I somehow haven’t read yet).
Sorry you got an email,
Chris