Grace Nichols gives us images that stare us straight in the eye, images of joy, challenge, accusation. Her 'fat black woman' is brash; rejoices in herself; poses awkward questions to politicians, rulers, suitors, to a white world that still turns its back. Grace Nichols writes in a language that is wonderfully vivid yet economical of the pleasures and sadnesses of memory, of loving, of 'the power to be what I am, a woman, charting my own futures'.
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Deliciously inert and self contented, the fat black woman mocks oppression by the scandal of being herself... (INDEPENDENT on Sunday )
Run naturally and economically off the tongue. Beneath the folk rhythms and the lyrical simplicities, Nichols's poems preach disquiet (OBSERVER )
Run naturally and economically off the tongue. Beneath the folk rhythms and the lyrical simplicities, Nichols's poems preach disquiet (OBSERVER )
Book Description
* A popular collection of poems from the award-winning writer and poet
* 'The feisty Fat Black Woman takes on politicians, the slimming industry, fatness, blackness, and womanhood' Guardian
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First Sentence
Beauty is a fat black woman walking the fields pressing a breezed hibiscus to her cheek while the sun lights up her feet Read the first page
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Back Cover
Beauty is a fat black woman walking the fields pressing a breezed hibiscus to her cheek while the sun lights up her feet Read the first page
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Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Back Cover
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
9 of 9 people found the following review helpful
By A Customer
Format:Paperback
I rememember first reading Nichols short collection of poems many years ago. Unfortunately the poems were foisted upon me and i was very objective to the author. However some six years on I have found myself going back to Nichols work with relish. The poems are perhaps very modern in their style which may not suit the tastes of everyone. However there are some absolute masterpieces in the guise of 'The price we pay for the sun' and 'come up and see me some time'. Nichols has the rare ability to be sentimental,tragic yet hopeful in all her poetry, even in the controversial slavery poems. Nichols work has stayed in my mind for several years. It is a curious work that is perhaps too dilute for any minority group to champion, and if you are swayed to purchase the book just by the title alone you may come away feeling disapointed, however, it is a thoroughly enjoyable and meaningful piece of work. It will certainly change your outlook on aspects of life...whoever you are.
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
By Adam Lowe
Format:Paperback
The Fat Black Woman's Poems really introduced me to poetry writing. I had tried it out before, but always in a schoolyard, nursery-rhyme kind of way. I tried sonnets and haikus and acrostic poems, but rarely did anything have verve or passion. Then I read this, aged 16, and fell in love with poetry and with Nichols specifically. The voice was so clear, slicing through injustice and prejudice with a witty lash of the tongue, a withering glare or a simple yawn. The strength of the Fat Black Woman is her inertness. She loves herself, so it matters little what anyone else thinks. She is round, and thus full and complete; she does not need the starving ideologies of others.
Nichols' verse zings with a straightforward assertiveness, and yet is redolent with flavour. With a few carefully-placed words, she recalls both cold urban spaces and warm, far-off islands, yet firmly resists sentimentalism and the holidaymaker's trappings of palm trees and seashells. Nichols, then, is real, and her voice convincing, whole, bold. Indeed, I was rather surprised to discover our confident Fat Black Woman is, in actuality, a skinny black woman instead. But like Nichols, it's irrelevant which social strata you come from; we all have a little fat black woman inside us.
Nichols' verse zings with a straightforward assertiveness, and yet is redolent with flavour. With a few carefully-placed words, she recalls both cold urban spaces and warm, far-off islands, yet firmly resists sentimentalism and the holidaymaker's trappings of palm trees and seashells. Nichols, then, is real, and her voice convincing, whole, bold. Indeed, I was rather surprised to discover our confident Fat Black Woman is, in actuality, a skinny black woman instead. But like Nichols, it's irrelevant which social strata you come from; we all have a little fat black woman inside us.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
By Emily
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
Grace Nichols is one of the modern greats within poetry. Her poems are lyrical and deeply moving, commenting on themes such as beauty, identity and culture.
This collection contains her 'Fat Black Woman's' poems and are a perfect introduction to Nichols' style and content.
Poems such as 'The Fat Black Woman Goes Shopping' and 'On Beauty' will make you examine the way you view the world and perhaps even change the way you look yourself.
This collection contains her 'Fat Black Woman's' poems and are a perfect introduction to Nichols' style and content.
Poems such as 'The Fat Black Woman Goes Shopping' and 'On Beauty' will make you examine the way you view the world and perhaps even change the way you look yourself.
Most Recent Customer Reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars
Fat Black Woman's Poems
The cover for this book was slightly different to the one pictured. Overall good condition, speedy delivery. Read more
Published 14 months ago by Cassie
4.0 out of 5 stars
Topical and Evocative with humour
The poems in this slim volume are nothing if not colourful and evocative, portraying a woman's contentment with herself and her life and the resulting joy and confidence. Read more
Published on 9 Dec 2005 by Ga Smith
4.0 out of 5 stars
Fantastic
A fantastic collection of straight to the point poetry. Nichols writes about issues that are at the heart of everyday life. It will certainly make you laugh. A brilliant read.
Published on 6 Nov 2001
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