A debut collection of lyric poems interrogating the generational implications of the Great Migration to Northern California by poet and philosopher E. Hughes.
Ankle-Deep in Pacific Water, a debut collection by E. Hughes, marries personal narrative with historical excavation to articulate the intricacies of Black familial love, life, and pain. Tracing the experiences of a southern Black family, their migration to the San Francisco Bay area, and the persistent anti-Blackness there (despite the state’s insistence that it is/was not involved in the US’ projects of imperialism or chattel slavery), Hughes illuminates the intersections of history, grief, and violence.
Praise for Ankle-Deep in Pacific Water
“This is family shoved into the glaring light of memory, where a troubled lineage is laid bare in tender, audacious lyric. So many writers are terrified to trouble the past and risk unearthing themselves. That’s a terror Hughes has conquered in this pained and imperative work.”
—Patricia Smith, author of Unshuttered: Poems
“Hughes looks with clear-eyes at human frailty and failure, asks questions that lead readers to ponder their own archives of memory. Poignant, vividly imagined, and wise, Hughes’ Ankle-Deep In Pacific Water reminds us that “we can’t dwell on the past. . .God will turn us to salt if we look back at everything we’ve lost or never had.”
—Janice N. Harrington, author of Yard Show
“Sorting through the wreckage of personal and collective history, Ankle-Deep In Pacific Water neutralizes what might otherwise haunt and destroy. Hughes does the work of all great poets: holds the truths of love and pain, letting both live in the light.”
—Kemi Alabi, author of Against Heaven