Tougaloo Blues

by Kelly Norman Ellis

This collection of poems explores the author's southern roots through a blues/narrative voice and revisits her Mississippi youth, while revealing the contemporary voice of a Black woman searching for place and community outside of her southern past.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0883782464
• ISBN13: 9780883782460
• Release Date: June 2003
• Publisher: Third World Press
• Length: 69 Pages
• Weight: 0.26 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.3" x 6.7" x 8.4"

Customer Reviews

In the kitchen

Tougaloo Blues by Kelly Norman Ellis paints a razor sharp, vivid picture of Black Southern life. Reading her words made me feel like I was sitting in the Kitchen with all the women in her family soaking up good Southern sents and ancient wisdom. This book is one of the best books of poetry about southern life that I have read so far. Buy it, travel with her...you won't regret it.

Learning The Blues: A Review of

Tougaloo Blues, written by Kelly Norma Ellis is clearly an African American and cultural history lesson for the soul. In one short book of poetry, Ellis is able to exhibit "blues and narrative poetry," that not only "paints vivid memories" of one's childhood, but brings to life experiences from the black south and one's childhood in Mississippi. Ellis pulls from her roots several enriching storied to share with the world. Tougaloo speaks specifically fro the voice of women in the south, but it is meant o be heard by all. Mississippi is brought to life with the descriptions of "frying okra & sweet corn in bacon grease," "soft grits and fried bologna," and "burning leaves in November." Those descriptions do not ring a bell in California or Florida narratives, but Mississippi for sure can burn some bacon and bologna. Putting forth the description of clothing and music by James Brown, afros like Angela Davis and a home of Motown Music, Ellis is able to reach out to her readers and intertwine them with the words on paper. Other narratives explored in her works include relationships between mother and daughter, husband and wife, child and father, and so forth. Ellis goes further to sing the role of a woman in raising a child, and the joy of the family, and the absence of the father. Its interesting because the tone used when talking about the absence of the father is not bitter in anyway, but in some was celebratory. It's a tone suggesting that the black woman can survive despite the lack of father figures, but the black community is not complete without the father figure. The book is good because it addresses every component of the black experience. It almost sounds like multiple people wrote the book, and or contributed to the narrating process. It is not a fun and interesting book to read, but it is informative. It did not make me feel like I had to read the whole book, and buy a copy for all my friends, but it has a unique style and I recommend that it be used for in academic settings. The poetry is obviously more entertaining to those from the south because they can immediately relate with what's being discussed.

Blues Portraits

Kelly Norman Ellis paints vivid, never leave you once you read them, down home Southern-salty-haunting word portraits in Tougaloo Blues. I was struck by the detailed clarity of her images. Her poetry is chiseled delicately with sophistication, and laid out from cover to cover beautifully in this book. She writes, "I was raised by Chitterling eating/Vegetarian cooking/Cornbread so good you want to lay down and die baking/Kind of women." We as readers are all the better for it. This work is to sink teeth into for those who have a taste for profundity in word economy. Each poem is a snap shot of Black Southern culture - Black Southern belle 21st century life view. There is subtlety and elegance in Tougaloo Blues that is distinctive. It is a poetic journey with a queen.

from didn't-know-I-was-a-poetry fan

I was always intimidated and shut out of understanding verse. I heard Dr. Kelly Norman Ellis read on the documentary about Affrilachian poets and wanted to explode wildly in applause in front of the TV in my one bedroom apartment. Her poetry is pervious and spreads out like a delicious feast! You must read through this book out loud and feel the ways the words feel inside your mouth because it's delightful. I am going to use some of her poems with my second-language students because the sounds beautifully transcend the language.

excellent poetry

This is a beautifully written book of poetry. If you appreciate the beauty of the southern lifestyle, then NOSTALGIA is what you will receive from this book. I loved reading "Raised by Women" and "Aperture" which describes her grandparents' (on the cover) thoughts and dreams. Nostalgic and sensous best describe Dr. Kelly Norman Ellis' poetry.