Review by Choice Review
With this book, Kelsey (Univ. of Colorado, Boulder) makes a valuable contribution to several fields of literary studies, including environmental, LGBTQ, and, of course, contemporary American Indian. The book is important especially because Kenny (b. 1929) has been the subject of surprisingly little scholarship, considering that his collection The Mama Poems (1984) won the American Book Award and two other collections were nominated for the Pulitzer Prize. The volume includes ten essays, four that in particular qualify as "celebrations" (per the title)--personal testimonies to Kenny's encouraging influence on other Indian writers and of his importance as a "Two Spirit" writer and as a poet who challenges dominant-culture attitudes toward environmental issues and ethnic roots--and six that are academic studies focused on these same issues. The ten essays coalesce into a rich portrait of a poetry that explores complex overlapping identity issues in late-20th-century America and the roots of these issues as far back as the early contact/conflict between Native Americans and British colonialists. Also included are an introduction by Joseph Bruhac III and an appendix providing a play by Alan Steinberg based on Kenny's Tekonwatonti, Molly Brant, 1735-1795. Summing Up: Recommended. Upper-division undergraduates, graduate students, and faculty. M. F. McClure Virginia State University
Copyright American Library Association, used with permission.
Review by Choice Review
