Natasha Trethewey's memoir, "Memorial Drive," explores the geographies we inherit and the metaphors we inhabit, tracing the origins of her writing life to create new metaphors to inhabit "so that my story would not be determined for me." She recalls the markers of history and culture that dotted the horizons of her youth, such as Confederate flags, her identity as the child of a Black mother and a white father, and her grandmothers' collages. With the clarity of a prophet and the grace of a poet, Trethewey offers a vision of writing as reclamation of our own lives and the stories of the vanished, forgotten, and erased.

Format: Hardback
Length: 96 pages
Publication date: 27 June 2024
Publisher: Yale University Press

  “Searching and intimate,this impresses.”— Publishers Weekly   In a shotgun house in Gulfport,Mississippi,at the crossroads of Highway 49,the legendary highway of the Blues,and Jefferson Street,Natasha Trethewey learned to read and write. Before the land was a crossroads,however,it was a pasture: a farming settlement where,after the Civil War,a group of formerly enslaved women,men,and children made a new home.   In this intimate and searching meditation,Trethewey revisits the geography of her childhood to trace the origins of her writing life,born of the need to create new metaphors to inhabit “so that my story would not be determined for me.” She recalls the markers of history and culture that dotted the horizons of her youth: the Confederate flags proudly flown throughout Mississippi; her gradual understanding of her own identity as the child of a Black mother and a white father; and her grandmothers collages lining the hallway,offering glimpses of the world as it could be. With the clarity of a prophet and the grace of a poet,Trethewey offers up a vision of writing as reclamation: of our own lives and the stories of the vanished,forgotten,and erased.   “Searching and intimate,this impresses.”— Publishers Weekly   In a shotgun house in Gulfport,Mississippi,at the crossroads of Highway 49,the legendary highway of the Blues,and Jefferson Street,Natasha Trethewey learned to read and write. Before the land was a crossroads,however,it was a pasture: a farming settlement where,after the Civil War,a group of formerly enslaved women,men,and children made a new home.   In this intimate and searching meditation,Trethewey revisits the geography of her childhood to trace the origins of her writing life,born of the need to create new metaphors to inhabit “so that my story would not be determined for me.” She recalls the markers of history and culture that dotted the horizons of her youth: the Confederate flags proudly flown throughout Mississippi; her gradual understanding of her own identity as the child of a Black mother and a white father; and her grandmothers collages lining the hallway,offering glimpses of the world as it could be. With the clarity of a prophet and the grace of a poet,Trethewey offers up a vision of writing as reclamation: of our own lives and the stories of the vanished,forgotten,and erased.

Natasha Trethewey's "Native Guard" is a meditation on the geographies we inherit and the metaphors we inhabit

Natasha Trethewey's "Native Guard" is a meditation on the geographies we inherit and the metaphors we inhabit. It explores the reasons why she writes and offers a compassionate argument for why we must all be the authors of our own stories. Trethewey revisits the geography of her childhood to trace the origins of her writing life, born of the need to create new metaphors to inhabit "so that my story would not be determined for me." She recalls the markers of history and culture that dotted the horizons of her youth, such as Confederate flags, her gradual understanding of her own identity as the child of a Black mother and a white father, and her grandmothers' collages lining the hallway, offering glimpses of the world as it could be. With the clarity of a prophet and the grace of a poet, Trethewey offers up a vision of writing as reclamation: of our own lives and the stories of the vanished, forgotten, and erased.

Natasha Trethewey's "Native Guard" is a meditation on the geographies we inherit and the metaphors we inhabit

Natasha Trethewey's "Native Guard" is a meditation on the geographies we inherit and the metaphors we inhabit. It explores the reasons why she writes and offers a compassionate argument for why we must all be the authors of our own stories. Trethewey revisits the geography of her childhood to trace the origins of her writing life, born of the need to create new metaphors to inhabit "so that my story would not be determined for me." She recalls the markers of history and culture that dotted the horizons of her youth, such as Confederate flags, her gradual understanding of her own identity as the child of a Black mother and a white father, and her grandmothers' collages lining the hallway, offering glimpses of the world as it could be. With the clarity of a prophet and the grace of a poet, Trethewey offers up a vision of writing as reclamation: of our own lives and the stories of the vanished, forgotten, and erased.

Natasha Trethewey's "Native Guard" is a meditation on the geographies we inherit and the metaphors we inhabit

Natasha Trethewey's "Native Guard" is a meditation on the geographies we inherit and the metaphors we inhabit. It explores the reasons why she writes and offers a compassionate argument for why we must all be the authors of our own stories. Trethewey revisits the geography of her childhood to trace the origins of her writing life, born of the need to create new metaphors to inhabit "so that my story would not be determined for me." She recalls the markers of history and culture that dotted the horizons of her youth, such as Confederate flags, her gradual understanding of her own identity as the child of a Black mother and a white father, and her grandmothers' collages lining the hallway, offering glimpses of the world as it could be. With the clarity of a prophet and the grace of a poet, Trethewey offers up a vision of writing as reclamation: of our own lives and the stories of the vanished, forgotten, and erased.

Weight: 202g
Dimension: 128 x 185 x 15 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9780300265927