Beyond the glittering world An anthology of Indigenous feminisms and futurisms

In this collection of fiction, nonfiction, and poetry, queer, two-spirit, and female storytellers imagine worlds beyond the capitalist and colonialist violence that shapes our present. Editors Denetsosie (Navajo), Drake (Navajo), and Little Badger (Lipan Apache) have brought together an impressive group of established and emerging Indigenous writers. The anthology uplifts Native languages, communities, religions, ancestries, cultures, and narrative styles in poems and stories that celebrate Indigenous survival and mourn Indigenous losses. Many of the pieces highlight the bonds and fractures of family (Danielle Shandiin Emerson's "Sandstone Ballad." and Cheyenne Dakota Williams' "Imprint" are standouts) and the unbreakable--yet too often forcibly attenuated--connection to the land (as in Maritza Estrada's superb "Exilios" and "Toppenish," among others). As our world struggles with the ongoing climate crisis and the challenges of social isolation, Beyond the Glittering World proposes new dreams for how we can endure into the future, dreams born from communities that have long fought for their own survival. This anthology is sharp, varied, and visionary; it deserves a place on every library's bookshelf.

This beautiful anthology of poetry and prose by contemporary Native American writers includes traditional motifs along with works of stark feminism and hopeful futurism. The poem "The Rhythm of Becoming" by Dominique Daye Hunter evokes the cadence of oral storytelling (one quatrain begins, "Ni:ska learns the old songs," followed by the line "She learns the old songs," which is then repeated twice). A.J. Eversole's appealing and mischievous story "Dilasulo Walks" is narrated by a pair of moccasins on display in a Dallas museum. The moccasins have a conversation with a Native artist visiting the museum, with whom they agree that "art should be admired, but shoes should be worn," prompting the artist to walk out with them on her feet. Arielle Twist laments violence against Indigenous women in the poem "In the beginning, it's just you and me against the world," in which a daughter worries about how "moms can go missing and die." In Moniquill Blackgoose's visionary "Sky Woman Rising: A Memoir," a storyteller tells a group of children in the 2050s about how their people built the Sky New World, explaining that while many of them left Earth for the utopia, some stayed behind to "preserve and restore" their ancestral land, in the hope that someday they can all return. Readers will find a wide assortment of riches on offer here. (Nov.)

A collection of more than 20 Indigenous writers carving out space in the literary canon. "We are many and diverse cultures, histories, and present-day realities…There's incredible beauty in this, our variety," the editors write in their introduction. Featuring Indigenous writers of poetry and prose, including women, two-spirit people, and people of marginalized genders, the collection places particular emphasis on emerging writers: "We hold the door open behind us and encourage others to do the same." Rooted in the past, present, and futures (both real and imagined), Indigenous language, culture, resilience, sorrow, hope, and traditions are fully realized in this collection. In A.J. Eversole's engaging "Dilasulo Walks," Little Dilasulo, a pair of moccasins that yearns to be worn, finds sentience after 177 years. Little Dilasulo fears that Indigenous people's art, like themself, will forever be trapped within museums as "the aftermath of our apocalypse." Imbued with science fiction and horror elements, Moniquill Blackgoose's "Sky Woman Rising: A Memoir" and Denetsosie's "No Wrong Roads Home" notably explore the apocalypse as a way back to humanity and the Earth ("All Natives have lived in a dystopia since colonization," Denetsosie writes). Poetry standouts include Ayling Dominguez's "Alfabetízate Otro Mundo: Reverse Abecedarian Broke Open" ("The path to liberation gets wider the more of us tread it"); Ha'åni Lucia Falo San Nicolas' "Kahilinā'i" ("our shared being as / women of the Pacific. I knew / you long before I learned your // name…"); Arielle Twist's "In the beginning, it's just you and me against the world" ("My haunting will be one of longing /to love something as you have loved me"); and Amelia Vigil's "Splice of Genetic Material" ("these bones / these bones // are on loan"). Though the collection's organization can feel jarring at times, the interconnectedness of the writing and the writers--as Indigenous people, stewards of the land, and keepers of history--serves as the anthology's beating heart. An enduring collection straddling time, language, and genre to explore Indigenous futures that await on and off the page. Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.