Literary Peer Review Comments
I found the poems provocative and moving and extremely relevant to circumstances that have plagued America since its inception. I can see why his poems have been embraced globally, particularly now as the United States dismantles one myth to replace it with another; Or is it merely now showing its true (orange-tinged) colors for the world to see. Professor John G. Russell, Gifu University, Japan
If Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar was a tightrope one could stretch between the idiosyncratically abysmal and the collectively political, then Neal Hall’s The Trembling Tiber is an elegant walk on this fragile tightrope. The poet’s voice is guttural yet soothing, lulling the reader into a timeless world of injustice, conflict and rage but also of hope, courage and inner freedom. Neal Hall’s poetry is a torrent of vibrating words engulfing the reader in their powerful rhythm and heartfelt truth. Andriana Minou, Judge, Greece’s Eyelands International Poetry Book Award.
I have spent some time with your 9/11 24/7 poems and then, as former English majors are wont to do, I sat with paper and pen to “organize” (dare I say rank) them. Among my favorites, T.S. Elliot, Yeats, Langston Hughes (“Let America Be America Again”), Wallace Stevens, the WWI poets, et. al. I usually find some poems speak to me with a greater urgency, a sharper edge, a moment of honest insight and sometimes a great sadness. Your collection is consistent in message and insight and in each there was a phrase that stopped my white mind in its tracts. A “straight drop” from the mountain top; “high on false hopes;” “Jefferson poker-faced democracy;” “gated heaven” and “I have given you my soul, leave me my name.” Also, “Enormous Weight of Hate,” “tolerable black with sugar,” “an air of arrogance always,” – these words catch you up; they haunt. A Black poet steeped in the Black American experience writes in a manner that is so specific that, like a prism, shows us the colors of our humanity. James Baldwin did that. Ta-Nehisi Coates does that. Fine company you keep. Rob Lynch
Out of all the amazing poets I met there, Neal Hall was the most fascinating one. He was different because his story was unlike anyone else’s. His poems reflected the power of his thoughts. He firmly believed that to change people’s mind there’s nothing better than making them realize it through literature. Pens are mightier than swords and it was only after my conversation with him that I started believing in it. He was not just a poet; he was a thinker, believer and a leader. After some research I finally located his blog, and then I desperately wanted his autograph. A man like him deserves our appreciation and respect. Composing poems on racism, which we think doesn’t exist anymore, is his passion. That really needs courage in thoughts and brilliance with his choice of words. He was an inspiration who motivated me to write. Samadrita Palash Bora, The Brahmaputra Literary Festival, Assam India
In The Trembling Tiber Neal Hall does a remarkable job of drawing out the range and depth of political concerns in Shakespeare’s play beyond the top layer struggle for power. His focus on the politics of Blackness and racial oppression brings new insight into the possibilities of remaking Shakespeare’s work. The range of poetic techniques he brings to bear is equally impressive. Mark Fortier, PhD, School of English and Theater Studies, University of Guelph, Canada
Your poetry readings moved me a lot and that afternoon while you were reading I watched you and suddenly I felt the pain, the sorrow, the cruelty, the evil, the oppression your ancestors and all Black people and you have had to bear so far. Your deep voice entered “inside” me, my heart, my soul with force and I thank you for the wonderful gift you have made to me. I have met a special person, a great friend. From time to time persons enter my life suddenly and elevate me like you!” Eddy, Cesena, Italy
I was deeply moved by the gift of your words, so like a polished diamond: clear, sharp precious and multifaceted. Srijan is blessed by your gift, as am I – your breath, enunciated with such power and honesty will remain with me until I am conscious. Julie Mehta, PhD, Department of English & Canadian Studies Program. University College, University of Toronto
When you were introduced to speak, I gave my attention to some distractions around me but when you started speaking, your voice brought my attention to the moment. Your lit. voice is one that resonates and compels all to listen without you actually saying so; It is prophetic! As a writer myself, I knew straight away that you are a great poetic prophet and a voice for the voiceless. Your lit. bio proved me right! Oh! you’ve done so much for humanity, now and in the future. The comments on your works attest to this. They are so awesome! Comfort Ero, Artistic Director, African Stages, Vancouver, Canada
Your voice, upon first hearing it, changes lives and belongs to all of humanity. I will carry the memory—and the power— of your opening day Poem with me forever. More than anything, keep that voice of yours safe and protected. It is a ‘lighthouse’ in a world that immerses itself deeper and deeper into the fog. Kurt Philip Behm, U.S. Novelist, Poet
Emotionally I felt a vigorous passion during your recitation. I consider them as an extension of a musical sonata with a purpose. Debojyoti Mishra, Renown Bengali Musician, Kolkata, India
I was invited to read my poems from FUSE at the Bengaluru Poetry Festival. There I met with a wonderful American poet, Dr. Neal Hall whose voice must be heard worldwide. Not only is he a powerful poet, his recitation is as charged. Bina Sarkar Ellas: Editor/Publisher of International Galleries, Poet/Curator, Mumbai, India
Great experience for my students ( 17 years old) to get an “updated” information about what they have learnt about the history of African Americans in their English lessons. We were fascinated and moved by the impressive language and Neil’s fantastic way of reading the poems, but also thoughtful about the message of them. Neal’s appeals have a lasting effect on me and my students’ minds. Thank you for “provoking” us and making us rethink some aspects of life. Veronika Kettner, English Teacher, Schyren-Gymnasium High School, Pfaffenhofen, Germany
And when he says ‘ I want to be someone who does not want to be any more ‘ you choke. And the “short walk to freedom “ stretches to infinity. This is poetry that scalds you into waking up to the possibility that you are perhaps one of those silent spectators. All in all he is a poet. And unquestionably one of the most significant voices of the century. Vasanth Kannabiran, Writer, Chairperson, Culture Asmita Resource Centre for Women, Hyderabad, India
Listening to Neal Hall for the first time was an experience. The dispassionate description of what it still means to be black was breathtaking. Hall’s poetry shocks you to the core, sets you beating your breast and gasping with rage while he reads on calm and matter of fact. Reading and rereading his poems again gives you a glimpse of the range of betrayal and shock that blackness carries on its back.
Halls poems shock and transform your understanding. Black poetry, Feminist poetry and Dalit poetry also reveal the gamut of emotions, the rage, betrayal and invisibility that tear down the veils here. What is significant about this poet is that while relentlessly, brutally hammering at the boundaries that define black he stands aside calmly to let his words speak. Prophetically. It is difficult to reconcile the poet, patient and calm, fielding questions, detached and dispassionate, untouched by the lava that pours out of his pen. His poems Veneer, Dr. Nigger are masterpieces that need several readings to unravel the intricately knotted weave to reach the core of his truth. When he says ‘I have given you my soul, leave me my name‘ your heart skips a beat.
From Italy, a big thank you for leaving your poetry for us. A big thank you for your poetry. Not one of us is left indifferent after reading or listening to any one flowing, halting, jolting river of your words. Your books will be available to all of us at school. We will be proud to bring them into the classroom because we will be bringing thought provoking work to our students and we know it will work from inside, somewhere deep. I believe we can and must move something, whatever, so that our students ask questions, beginning from the sound and their rhythm your lines capture. We can take it from there. Thank you for striking chords. Yolanda Cappelletti, English Conversation and Drama Teacher at the Liceo G. Galilei, Gozzano near Orta, Italy
Halls poems shock and transform your understanding. Black poetry, Feminist poetry and Dalit poetry also reveal the gamut of emotions, the rage, betrayal and invisibility that tear down the veils here. What is significant about this poet is that while relentlessly, brutally hammering at the boundaries that define black he stands aside calmly to let his words speak. Prophetically. It is difficult to reconcile the poet, patient and calm, fielding questions, detached and dispassionate, untouched by the lava that pours out of his pen. His poems Veneer, Dr. Nigger are masterpieces that need several readings to unravel the intricately knotted weave to reach the core of his truth. When he says ‘I have given you my soul, leave me my name‘ your heart skips a beat.
From Italy, a big thank you for leaving your poetry for us. A big thank you for your poetry. Not one of us is left indifferent after reading or listening to any one flowing, halting, jolting river of your words. Your books will be available to all of us at school. We will be proud to bring them into the classroom because we will be bringing thought provoking work to our students and we know it will work from inside, somewhere deep. I believe we can and must move something, whatever, so that our students ask questions, beginning from the sound and their rhythm your lines capture. We can take it from there. Thank you for striking chords. Yolanda Cappelletti, English Conversation and Drama Teacher at the Liceo G. Galilei, Gozzano near Orta, Italy
The blood, rusty red, coagulating on the pavement, where another black man has been shot on the pavement by the beast, speaks as it dries, like Neal Hall’s poems speak. Running, rambling, streaming, raging, still remembering, we are human and we love. Jean Binta Breeze, world-renowned Jamaican dub poet, actress and storyteller. Appointed Member of the Order of the British Empire for her services to literature. Hailed one of the most important influential performance poets of recent years.
Neal, when I read your poems, I don’t think of America, I think of my India. Jameela Nishat, Award winning Urdu Poet, Hyderabad, India
After Dr. Neal Hall’s first two books of poetry, Nigger For Life, and Winter’s A’ Coming Still, here is another book that displays the skill, breadth, and versatility with which he has honed his craft. Where Do I Sit does not jettison the sharp denunciations of racial and economic injustice that appeared in his first collections. On the contrary, there are poems, such as “In the Wake of Trayvon, What Matters Next,” in which he advances an explanation for contemporary anti-black racism and provides a corresponding call for black economic autonomy – “buy black or buy from that”. Other poems appeal for ethical interventions, such as “Free will is not free” from “Before Me . . . Still”; and drawing from Dr. King “we all suffer greatly at the appalling silence of good people ” addressed in the poem “A Long Walk“. This book provides the reader with broad social analyses and solutions. It is not a lament, but a call for action that intersperses epic representations with deeply lyrical reflections such as in “Hand,” and on love, personal loss, and a range of sentiments.
Reading Where Do I Sit, one has the impression that Dr. Hall can turn any sentiment, observation, and object into a reason for poetry. Dr. Gerard Aching, Director of the Africana Studies and Research Center at Cornell University, and author of Freedom From Liberation: Slavery, Sentiment, and Literature in Cuba
Reading Where Do I Sit, one has the impression that Dr. Hall can turn any sentiment, observation, and object into a reason for poetry. Dr. Gerard Aching, Director of the Africana Studies and Research Center at Cornell University, and author of Freedom From Liberation: Slavery, Sentiment, and Literature in Cuba
Dr. Neal Hall, hailed as the Malcolm X of International Poetry, is a poet of intellectual passion and artistic significance whose poetry has consistently championed socio-economic and socio-political issues pertinent to social advocacy, of which we are a part, and of which poetry is pivotal. Yasus Afari, Founder and Chief Organizer, Jamaica Poetry Festival
Thank you for the wonderful evening of poetry. We soaked into every word you read , like the fresh drops of rain on our window sill! Dr. Agna Fernandez, Management Professor, Consultant in Organizational Development and a Coach, Hyderabad, India
I was moved by your passion, both in terms of the content and delivery of your poetry. Thanks for letting us get a glimpse of your obviously immense poetic talents at the event. Blackness in West Coast Canada (which is scattered and too often muted compared to the rest of Canada) desperately needs to hear from voices like yours. In Solidarity… “ Prof. Handel Kashope Wright Director, Centre for Culture, Identity & Education- University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada
I received the book. It is amazing. I find it to be relevant in a timeless way that spans our history as African Americans in this country under white supremacy. Your words breathe an air of revolution and exhales a sense of direction for us as a people. I see why you have won so many rewards. Your writing is such awesome work. I must say I do appreciate your book and have read excerpts to my entire family when we get together. J Hyles, MBA
I can certainly understand how you win so many awards. A modern day TS Eliot, in my opinion. Really insightful and profound. Kristina Diener, PH.D., U.S.
“I consider him one of the most dynamic poets in North America today. His vision, his delivery and his command of his chosen subject matter are of vital importance to contemporary poetry.” Bruce Haring, Managing Director, JM Northern Media
When Neal stood up and read his work, it electrified the room. The passion with which he spoke and the incisiveness of his use of language were obvious for all to see. . Louise Doughty, Novelist, Playwright and Critic, London, UK
Thank you for making me cry with your poetry. It was a pleasure and honour to share the panel with you. Warsan Shire, Poet, UK
I received your books late last week and immediately dove into them. Thank you. I really couldn’t stop reading, so powerful and raw and beautiful and wrenching I found the poems. This is important work you are doing.
It was a great pleasure to get to spend a little time with you at Vermont Studio Center, to hear you read, to have you in my own audience, and to share some ideas at meals. Sending you much gratitude for your books and also strongest wishes that you keep hearing and sharing your poetry. “ Ann Pancake, Awarding Winning Novelist, USA
I find your poetry is so powerful, I can only dip into it for a short time before coming up for air, as you speak of the continuing overt and covert prejudice
and inhumanity we show towards each other. It brings me to a place of examination of that side in my life and where I may have held another’s life less precious than my own.” Deborah Lovegrove, Story Teller, Writer, Australia
His talks and readings were dynamic, striking testament to colloquial political literature that communicates directly. He was a great hit at the Poetry Slam, with his poems of passion, clarity. He has something to say and knows how to make people listen, and be glad that they did. Inez Baranay, Ph.D., Novelist, Playwright, Istanbul Turkey
Dr. Hall writes with a great deal of courage and honesty and compels the reader to self examine with the same degree of courage and honesty, these are never easy things to do but Dr. Hall reminds us why they are ever so important. Kopano Matlwa, Novelist, South Africa
Neal Hall’s Nigger For Life is a vibrant, raw, spellbinding and compelling work of poetry. This is a voice to be watched.” Bruce Haring, New York Book Festival.
Though set in America, people from all walks of life who suffer any form of prejudice and discrimination can relate to it; motives are different but the result is the same. There is also an unpretentious approach which is liberating, no rhymes or your conventional stanzas. It is the reinvention of poetry which makes an explosive theme accessible. George Murevesi, Radio Host – Africa Live, Awaz 107.2 FM, Glasgow, Scotland
Dr. Hall, Master of Diction: I’ve now read Nigger for Life! Well, you’ve called spades ‘spades’ and struck every nail directly on its head. There’s a lot of Illumination in your work, a lot of ‘shock and awe’ re: African American and global Black struggle. I’ll be re-reading and focusing on a few parts. Thou art eminently quotable. Cheers! Dr. George Elliot Clarke, Ph.D. University of Toronto, Poet Laureate of Toronto
As Kenya celebrates 50 years of Independence this year, we are reflecting on our values as a society. Your work, which, touches on matters of race, equality and freedom would add a very powerful voice to the discourse that is taking place currently here. Furthermore, the Kenyan poetry scene here is incredibly vibrant and the young faces of poetry today here is having to ask what are their words being used for? What is the power of poetry and literature to affect social change and how does art and activist meet? For these reasons, I feel your voice would make a powerful addition to the conversation at the festival. Aleya Kassam, Producer,Storymoja Hay Festival, Nairobi, Kenya
It was interesting to contrast Neal Hall’s message with that of Jose Ramos- Horta [co-recipient – 1996 Nobel Peace Prize]. Neal Hall’s message resonated with me because of my own experience of discrimination. And I wondered what Australian indigenous people would make of his message. Robina Cosser M.Ed. (SYD), Editor : The Teachers Are Blowing Their Whistles!, Australia
We see the power in your poetry. As a human rights group, we appreciate your insight into race, equality, dignity and justice. RAR, Ireland
It was in fact an honour for me to have heard a brave black American speaking out for what is right. I must thank you for the wonderful collection of poems that you wrote and would be read not just by Americans, black, white and any other race and ethnic group in the USA, but by people of the world from elsewhere as well. Pravit Rojanaphruk, Journalist, The Nation, Bangkok, Thailand
Neal Hall is the best kind of poet – one who has been fashioned by circumstance. A poet who has faced great adversity and known no other way to carve a path for himself but through the inscription of his emotions onto paper. Thus his words hold the weight of experience. Neal Hall writes to service the people, his words are not only strong and beautiful, but are intended to be catalysts for positive change… and I have seen them do so with my very own eyes. Luka Lesson, 2012 Australian National Spoken Word Champion
Dr. Hall’s intellectual and emotional honesty, his skillful wordplay and the subtle way he gets beneath your guard and forces you to put your preconceptions about race to the test. Anthony Williams, Journalist, Victoria, St. Lucia
Neal: your words spring forth to heal centuries old invisible wounds in all of our souls. You may think you wrote those poems for yourself, but you wrote them for all of us. Sandra Turner Barnes, Poet, United States
Dr. Neal Hall’s book, “Nigger For Life”, encapsulates the stench of prejudice and racism in a tone that allows for intelligent dialogue to occur for anyone honestly willing to address the problem. Daoud Bey, Cultural Consultant, Arts 4 Teens Festival
and Literary Programs of Camden County Cultural & Heritage Commission at Camden County College, Camden, NJ, United States
I was awash with goose-pimples as the words jumped out of the pages of your thought provoking masterpiece Nigger For Life to shatter my assumption of American society equal in human dignity and justice. My lecturer, your friend, Dr. GMT Emezue directed me to your book which I perused from her library. I came to a better understanding of the senseless killing of Trayvon Martins just like Diallo. You write haunting yet beautiful poems. Am going to see how I can get a copy. Bravo. Udo Okoronkwo-Chukwu Univeristy, Ebonyi State University, Nigeria
I read your book from beginning to end, and was tearful up to “Speaking in Black“, and heartbroken by the time I read “9-11, 24-7”. I realized that I don’t live in a real world, I live in my own world, like so many others. I used to think that our country, government, culture, lost the proverbial moral compass, but my sadness comes from realizing that our culture embeds biases and prejudices in each generation that passes. You are strong and have a powerful message, one that I can relate to, and feel, on so many levels. J Pucino, Author
The struggle for hearts and minds is a long one, but your book and appearances certainly hasten the ultimate victory. Bruce Haring, Book Festival Directo
At 3:40 pm, there was a powerful and dramatic poetry reading by Dr. Neal Hall, a multi-award winning poet. Lloyd Lefthouse, Novelist, San Francisco Book Festival
. . . when you read at the book event in San Francisco, the entire room was riveted and moved. Erin Byrne, Award Winning Author
Brother Neal, your poetry at the meeting was very educational and very good. Thank you for your great contribution brother Africa. Mukasa DaDa (Willie Ricks)
There is no freedom, only degrees of tyranny” award winning American poet and Ophthalmologist Dr. Neal Hall’s statement to an audience seated in a miniature amphitheatre at the Nairobi National Museum cripples any reasoning behind carving out a day and calling it a time to celebrate independence. Why celebrate something that in reality may not exist? Hall joined a panel of two other poets British based Somali poet Warsan Shire and South African Mongane Wally Serote at the StoryMoja Hay festival to “voice the Unspoken” among them; freedom, oppression and racial identity. Lydia Matata, Staff Writer, The Star, Nairobi, Kenya
Nigger For Life is a literary masterpiece that captures the truth of the experiences of one race in the hands of the other. It will continue to prick the conscience of the guilty. Udodinma F. Okoronkwo- Chukwu, Journalist/Broadcaster, Nigeria
We are so very proud of you and your continuous accomplishments –Your book, ”Nigger For Life,” has become your badge of courage, and helps make the world safer for us, ” those of us, who, wear the darker hue!” We can no longer keep quiet about such indignities. Sandra Turner Barnes, Poet, United States
It was a pleasure to meet you and to hear your poems and learn of the inspiration behind them. Your reading brought it home to me: you speak truth to power when you write about racism and other injustices against black America. But your other poems like “Veneer” are no less impressive for your art of conjuring worlds before our very eyes. Gerard Aching Chair, Africana Studies and Research Center Cornell University
What an honor to have had the privilege of listening to your powerful words. This is inspiring! May the beautiful message of love that you shared with us today continue to nurture your effective creative capacity to promote social transformation and liberation beyond oppression. Professor N’Dri Assie-Lumumba, Africana Studies and Research Center, Cornell University
I hope this correspondence finds you well, spreading poetics all over the world. I wanted to let you know that I included your poems, from your book Nigger for Life, into my curriculum alongside our section on Race Matters. My students loved your work! It both energized and disturbed the class, and was the topic of discussion for a good amount of time. I am humbled by the strength and power of your words in the classroom. Professor Daniel Dissinger