Mother/land by Ananda Lima Explores Identity and Heritage

Mother/land cover

Congratulations are in order for contributor Ananda Lima, who just released the book of poems Mother/land! Incorporating English and Portuguese, the collection explores the nuances of ancestry, language, identity, and motherhood and dives in to how the confluence of them all can complicate or enhance life. Mother/land asks us to consider the aspects of life we take part in and those which are chosen for us.

Ananda Lima’s Mother/land is as much a mother’s grappling with how to raise her son amid the danger and violence of today’s America as it is an investigation of a daughter’s inherited, migrant Brazilian past. Lima’s poetry has the rare power to let us feel and “know the terror” of the present moment, while reflecting on ancestry and passing on familial legacy to the next generation. Her poems aren’t afraid to “shout ‘I’m an American citizen’ ” across borders and languages, while shattering the security of presumed identity and recognizing both the precarity and privilege of citizenship. Piercing and poignant, Lima’s voice and music stay with you, “undisturbed / by wind or water, there will always remain/ a footprint” guiding your way home.

Julia Kolchinsky Dasbach, Author of the Many Names for Mother

One of the poems, “Transa,” was originally published in SR. “Transa” is among the few poems in Mother/land that are connected with Brazilian music.

Mother/land is the winner of the 2020 Hudson Prize and is available from Black Lawrence Press. To learn more about Ananda, who has published several chapbooks, visit her website, Instagram, and Twitter. Also, find Ananda at one of her many upcoming book tour events!

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