The Racial Imaginary: Writers on Race in the Life of the Mind

This uneven but sometimes rewarding collection of essays, poetry, and imagery takes its title from a project conceived by renowned poet Rankine (Citizen: An American Lyric), in which she invited readers of the New Media Poets website to submit compositions on the role race plays in the creative process. As such, the selections most directly aim to initiate dialogue in the arts community, but Jennifer Chang's essay, about her experiences as a Chinese-American born and raised in New Jersey, suggests a more universal application. Contributors include poets, fiction writers, and academics. Most of these pieces are challenging reads, and some contributions, such as Rachel Zucker's heavily footnoted essay "Exempt, Implicated," veer into pretension. By contrast, one of the most effective contributions comes from College of the Pacific professor Zhou Xiaojing, who submits vignettes of everyday encounters with racism written by students in her "Introduction to Ethnic Studies" course. Complementing the writing are reproductions of provocative photos and paintings that provide examples of how identity can be represented in art. Readers of this anthology can expect to find effective and convincing pieces alongside others that come across as the wordy meanderings of authors who never seem to make their points. (Mar.)