"Holladay is especially good at placing Clifton's work in the traditions of American and English poetry. She reads it in dialogue with Paul Laurence Dunbar and William Carlos Williams, Gwendolyn Brooks, Adrienne Rich, and Sylvia Plath.... Holladay uncovers fresh biographical material, but her readings are as attentive to form as to content." -- Cheryl A. Wall, author of Worrying the Line: Black Women Writers, Lineage, and Literary Tradition

"Holladay presents a glowing study of prolific poet, children's author, and educator Clifton, whose works celebrate black womanhood, the Bible, and the memories of loved ones." -- Library Journal

"Highly recommended." -- Choice

"Like the poet whose works she explores, [Holladay's] readings will not 'leave us alone.'" -- Southern Literary Journal

In Wild Blessings, Hilary Holladay offers the first full-length study of Lucille Clifton's poetry, drawing on a broad knowledge of the American poetic tradition and African American poetry. Holladay places Clifton's poems in multiple contexts -- personal, political, and literary -- as she explicates major themes such as fertility, race, and gender, and analyzes specific works such as her poignant family history, Generations. In addition to a new preface written after Clifton's death in 2010, this updated edition includes an epilogue that discusses the poetry she published after 2004.