Red Wilderness by Aaron Coleman

Red Wilderness

$17.95
$17.95
Skip to product information
Red Wilderness by Aaron Coleman
  • Red Wilderness by Aaron Coleman
Red Wilderness

Four Way Books

Red Wilderness

by Aaron Coleman

$17.95
$17.95

Members save $1.79. Learn more about Membership »

In defiance of life's intractable march forward, Red Wilderness by Aaron Coleman (Winner of the 2020 GLCA New Writers Award) sounds the strange fathoms of the past, weaving a living song beyond what haunts our country and ourselves. Coleman's second collection interpolates American history with his own family's legacy, reflecting on national identity, Blackness, taboo, faith, and remembrance while enacting a multigenerational chorus of poems that stretches back to the Civil War. In present day, Coleman "[tries] a new way home / past the pawn shop neon-green with memory" and inspects bird bones in "tall, forgotten weeds" while "hard rain" turns his ground into "a gulch"--another place where "the end got here before us." In the next poem, transported between storms, Coleman channels his ancestor, a soldier of the Pennsylvania 25th Colored Infantry at sea during a downpour in March 1864: "I say no to death now. I'm nobody's slave / now. I'm alive and not alone." In these restorative lyrics, an end is an entrypoint to memory and reimagination, to something unending--a spiritual freedom, collective strength, and boundless love threading separate years into one strand. Red Wilderness visualizes an intimate, living archive that maps myths and realities of blood, boundaries, geography, and genealogy, and Coleman brilliantly curates the sound of time's river wending across ancient land. "Hold and let fall water," he instructs us. "If I / listen for my body living I hear who I am."
Book Details
Publisher:
Four Way Books
ISBN:
9781961897243
Binding:
Paperback
Pages:
135
Authors:
Aaron Coleman
Published Date:
2025-03-15
Language:
English
Shipping

Ships directly to you from our US distribution partner. US delivery only.

Usually ships within 1–2 days.

Estimated total time for this book on its own:

  • Economy 4–10 days (usually about a week)
  • Expedited 3–7 days
  • Priority 2–6 days

Orders with more than one book may arrive in separate deliveries. Pre-orders always ship separately once the book is released.
Returns

We offer a 30-day return policy, which means you have 30 days after receiving your item to request a return. To be eligible for a return, your item must be in the same condition that you received it: new, unworn or unused, and in its original packaging. See details on our Return & Refund policy.

See more

African American & Black All Poetry Death, Grief, Loss Poems About Family | Poetry Books

About Aaron Coleman

Assistant professor at the University of Michigan's Helen Zell Writers' Program, Aaron Coleman holds a PhD in comparative literature from Washington University in St. Louis. Raised in Detroit, he won the Great Lakes Colleges Association New Writers Award for his debut collection, Threat Come Close (Four Way Books, 2018), after his chapbook St. Trigger took the Button Poetry Chapbook Prize. His translation of Nicolás Guillén's The Great Zoo (University of Chicago Press, 2024) was short-listed for the Griffin Poetry Prize. Fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts, Cave Canem, the Fulbright Program, and ALTA have supported his work, including his second collection, Red Wilderness (Four Way Books, 2025).

If this information requires correction, please contact info@thepoetryshop.com.

You may also like

If any information on The Poetry Shop contains an error that requires correction, please contact info@thepoetryshop.com