Ebony to Publishes Review of Recyclopedia in BIBR

Renewed Treasure: Recyclopedia in Review

By: Ebony Noelle Golden, MFA


Recyclopedia. Harryette Mullen.
St. Paul: Graywolf Press, 2006.
178 pp.
Price: 15.00 USA
18.95 Canada

Thinking thought to be a body wearing language as cloth-
ing or language a body of thought which is a soul or body
the clothing of a soul, she is veiled in silence. A veiled, un-
available body makes an available space.
-from trimmings


For hip readers who were, are, and will be in love with Trimmings, S*PeRM**K*T, and Muse &

Drudge. For the hydrating drink that is Harryette Mullen’s quintessential riff on gender,

language, geography, and legacy. For the poems re-gifted as lagniappes of light to enliven our

collective intellect; Harryette Mullen, Professor of English and African American Studies and

finalist for the National Book Award offers her new collection of previously published works in

Recyclopedia published by Gray Wolf Press. Mullen, dubbed “The Queen of Hip Hyperbole” by

Sandra Cisneros, reveals an intensely intricate and bitingly fresh approach to literary craft

which politicizes diction, exfoliates imagery, and reflects the brilliant glow which situates her in a

category poets, and writers alike, work ever so vigilantly to achieve. Mullen’s poems

deconstruct archetypal ideals of consumption, value, and economic class structure. She

writes,

“Pyramids are eroding monuments. Embalmed soup stocks
the recyclable soul adrift in its newspaper boat of double
coupons. Seconds decline in descent from number one, top
of the heap. So this is generic life, feeding from a dented
cant. Devoid of colored labels, the discounted irregulars.”

Long time Mullen enthusiasts and new readers can look forward to poems that spark critical

thought and conversation about local and global issues without heavily ladled didactic

overtures. Recyclopedia is elegantly spiced with imagistically rich verse, written in

short-lined stanzas, and concerned with historical, spiritual, and body narratives.

For example,

“bring money bring love
lucky floorwash seven
powers of Africa la mano
poderosa ayudame numeros suenos

…sister mystery listens
helps souls in misery
get to the square root
of evil and render in moot…”

This excerpt examines Yoruba spirituality and the cultural significance of the

conjure woman; but moreover, illustrates Mullen’s masterful and singular

approach to exploring Africana motif and symbology without clichéd

language and skin-deep imagery.

Harryette Mullen’s body of work, in general, and Recyclopedia, in

specific, demands readers to re-imagine and re-envision the possibilities of poetry. Additionally,

this collection urges readers to retire static assumptions about what creates readable, relevant,

and resonant poems. I highly recommend Mullen’s newest addition to the overpopulated

literary landscape for its quick wit, sharp intellect, and colorful approach to literary craft. Read

Recyclopedia and experience or re-acquaint yourself with one of contemporary poetry’s most

important treasures.

Author’s Biography

Ebony Noelle Golden, MFA, is a poet, performer, and educator currently teaching African American Literature, Composition and Creative Writing at North Carolina Central University and Louisburg College as a Visiting Instructor. She has self-published a chap book of poems titled the sweet smell of juju funk and is currently editing mama's hieroglyphics to be released in 2007. In the near future, Ebony plans to undergo doctoral studies in Performance and stage her multimedia choreopoem, What Aunt Sarah Says to Siffronia When Sweet Thing is Moon-Watching and Peaches is Dancing to the Wind. Ebony can be contacted via email at goldendharma@yahoo.com or www.goldendharma.blogspot.com.