[encore] 1104: Black Book of Creation by Shanta Lee Gander

The Slowdown: Poetry & Reflection Daily

American Public Media

Arts, Performing Arts

4.8 • 1.2K Ratings

🗓️ 19 June 2025

⏱️ 9 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Today’s poem is Black Book of Creation by Shanta Lee Gander.

The Slowdown is currently taking a break. We’ll be back soon with new episodes from a new host. This week, we’re revisiting some favorites from Major Jackson’s time as host. Today’s episode was originally released on April 25 2024.

The Slowdown is your daily poetry ritual. In this episode, Major writes… “Today’s poem builds on the belief that imagining is a kind of magic and time travel, that listening to the soil and all the voices within is a monumental way into both history, and our future.”

Celebrate the power of poems with a gift to The Slowdown today. Every donation makes a difference: https://tinyurl.com/rjm4synp

Transcript

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1:33.0	Hi, it's Major. As I close my time as host of The Slowdown, I'm grateful for the opportunity
1:39.2	I've had to share poetry with you these past few years.
1:47.3	The Slowdown has a deep store of episodes,
1:48.8	and for the next few months,
1:52.3	we're reaching into the archive to bring you some of our favorites.
1:55.4	Here's one for my time on the show. I'm Major Jackson, and this is The Slowdown.
2:10.6	In an interview, speaking about an ancestor, novelist Tony Morrison coughed, then reaching for a glass of water, said, that's what happens when you talk about the dead.
2:29.3	It might have been unremarkable, except that Morrison is known for conjuring people in her literature.
2:38.2	She was the first author to alert me to the notion of writing as an invocation of the past,
	...

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