Reviewed by: Lorraine Currelley
All The Women In My Family Sing
Edited by ZZ Packer
Nothing But The Truth Publishing, LLC
Jan 30 2018, 366 pages, ISBN: 8780997296211
ZZ Packer has succeeded in assembling a multi-cultural and diverse group of women of color: women authors who write with dignity, self realization and insight. What makes this anthology of prose and poetry are the diverse and multi-cultural voices. The words of these nuanced voices are welcomed and appreciated. Readers will celebrate the opportunity to read about their lives and experiences. Their experiences and lives told through poetry, prose, letters and essays are colorful, captivating and passionate.
The stories, poems and essays of this book’s authors are courageous, refreshing and from the heart. We identify and are not strangers to their pain, love, joy, and their uncompromising outcries for justice. They address immigration, brokenness and the turbulent political and social climate we live under today. There are attempts by authors to fill wells of understanding. There is an undeniable connectedness amongst these women, and that connectedness is the human spirit.
There are sixty-nine authors in this collection representing African American, Chicana, Asian American, Cameroonian, Native American, South African, Korean, and LGBTQI communities. The wisdom, aspirations, insights, and the hopes of this group of women are well documented. This is an empowering collection all participants can be proud of.
About the reviewer: Lorraine Currelley, poet, writer, storyteller, multimedia artist, mental health and grief and bereavement counselor. She advocates for mental health and healthy aging. She’s the founder/executive director, Poets Network & Exchange, Inc., where she facilitates poetry and creative writing workshops, produces featured poetry readings, panel discussions and a scholar lecture series. She’s widely anthologized and the recipient of numerous honors. She’s the newly elected executive director for the Bronx Book Fair. She resides in New York City. https://poetsnetworkandexchange.com