Wounds Beneath the Flesh: Fifteen Native American Poets
AUTHOR
Maurice Kenny
Winner of the Bloomsbury Review's award for best anthology in 1983 (ThriftBooks), this groundbreaking collection showcases fifteen Native American poets curated by acclaimed Mohawk poet Maurice Kenny. The poems celebrate heritage without romanticizing, demonstrating the power of remembering through varied yet unified voices (BookScouter). Kenny, twice nominated for the Pulitzer Prize and recipient of the American Book Award, carefully selected work that reflects the diverse landscape of contemporary Native American poetry—from honoring cultural traditions to exploring modern identity and experience. Published by White Pine Press, this slim but significant volume offers readers an essential introduction to Indigenous voices that have shaped the Native American literary renaissance.
Reviews
“The work is varied, but the poems have in common the celebration, without romanticizing, of heritage and the power of remembering.”
—Joseph Bruchac, American Indian Quarterly
“As solid and resonant a selection as you’ll find in a volume of fifty pages. My only criticism is that it isn’t twice as long.”
—Adirondak Library
Maurice Kenny was born in Watertown, New York on August 16, 1929 to parents of mixed ethnic heritage; his father, Anthony Andrew Kenny, was of both Mohawk and Irish ancestry, while his mother Doris Herrick Kenny, was both Seneca and English. He was raised in both Watertown and Bayonne, New Jersey, alongside two older sisters, Mary and Agnes. He left the North Country as a teenager, initially traveling to New York City and then matriculating at Butler University in Indianapolis, Indiana, where he began his formal training as a poet and a scholar under Werner Beyer and Roy Marz, among others.
He began publishing his poetry in the early 1950s, with his first book – Dead Letters Sent – appearing in 1958. Over the course of the subsequent six decades, he brought more than thirty volumes of poetry, prose, fiction, and drama into the public eye. At the same time, in his roles as publisher, editor, and teacher, he mentored countless other writers at various stages of their development.