Beacon Best of 1999

Ushering the work of women and men of color from the literary underground into the company of more established writers, this welcome anthology, edited by noted poet and playwright Shange, showcases standout short fiction, poetry and nonfiction from the past year. The range of nonfiction is impressive in both content and execution: Barbara Kingsolver dissects the spontaneous creation of poetry from image, emotion and miracles in ""How Poems Happen,"" while Dorothy Allison takes a revealing look back at her childhood and John Edgar Wideman examines the meaning of brotherhood--racial, familial and otherwise--in ""What's a Brother?"" Although the quality of the poetry varies, there is much to enjoy, including Rita Dove's finely distilled portrait of Rosa Parks, Denise Levertov's gentle tribute to ""A New Flower,"" Yusef Komunyakaa's soulful ode to the ""Venus of Willendorf"" and Danielle Legros Georges's humorous celebration ""How to Kiss."" The fiction selections consistently offer surprises. Among the best of them are Nadine Kijner's tender yet grotesque ""Water,"" Toure's raucous ""The Sad Story of Sugar Lips Shinehot and the Portable Promised Land,"" Brenda Miller's meditation on loneliness in ""The Date"" and Hanif Kureishi's wise examination of a restless husband with gypsy feet in ""Intimacy."" As editor, Shange has been careful not to surrender to ideology or dogma in her selection of material for this expansive collection, which deserves pride of place on the crowded shelf of literary anthologies. (Oct.)