In Ancestors, part of the Boston Review’s Arts in Society anthology series, contributing writers respond to the question posed by guest editors Alexis Pauline Gumbs, Ed Pavlić, and Ivelisse Rodriguez: “What does it look like if you summon the presence of the ancestors into your art?” Divided into three sections, “Origins,” “Ruptures & Transformations,” and “Onward,” the poems and stories in this collection reflect what it means to be human, from our beginnings, to what events shape us, to how we carry our ancestors with us into the future. Contributors include a range of authors from across the globe, such as Bennet Bergman, Duana Fullwiley, José B. González, Terrance Hayes, Tyehimba Jess, Cheswayo Mphanza, Sonia Sanchez, Izumi Suzuki, Ocean Vuong, and Binyavanga Wainaina. “We feel certain that readers will take from the book an enriched sense of what it means to be human living in a time, among other times, and to be part of a lineage, among other lineages, to have questions inherited from the past—as well as other ‘beyonds’—that shape our lives and will, no doubt, continue to shape the future on which we leave our impress,” write the editors.
