BOOK REVIEWS
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work. Readers who missed or gave short attention to this poem would lose an
essential element of Clifton’s project, which Liipton explicates expertly. It is an
extremely important emphasis that, if Lupton did not bring a popular culture
background to the book, would most likely not have happened.
Lupton brings her expertise in Native American studies, most recently
demonstrated in her book-length study of Blackfeet writer James Welch, to bear
in an extensive discussion of Clifton’s poetry that commemorates Native
American historical events, culture, and spirituality, such as “the killing of the
trees,” the sequence A Dream of Foxes, and four poems about Crazy Horse.
Lupton connects these poems to longstanding folkloric strains in the Lakotah
tradition. Lupton highlights the intensely spiritual use that Clifton has made of
Native American culture and tradition in a significant number of her most
important poems.
Lupton also enriches the text with extensive knowledge about women’s
studies, especially the cultural history of menstruation. Fertility, menstruation,
and female sexuality are themes that Clifton explores extensively in her work,
and Lupton interweaves her own vast knowledge of this subject with explication
of key poems such as, “wishes for sons,” “poem to my uterus,” “to my last
period,” and “blood.” Lupton is especially strong in this area, having had a life
long research interest in the history and culture of menstruation. She brings a
very clear voice to connect Clifton’s exploration of these themes to a broad
history of women’s writing on the topic, including poets and writers such as
Edna St. Vincent Millay, Anne Sexton, Sylvia Plath, and Erica Jong.
Lupton is a deft interviewer who formally met with a number of key
people, including Clifton herself on several occasions. These sessions have
brought material that enriches every part of the book, from early life,
adolescence, marriage, child-rearing, the loss of Clifton’s beloved husband—
Fred Clifton, who was an artist, educator, and political activist—several major
health concerns, and various careers as a children’s writer, internationally
acclaimed poet, and committed educator.
I recommend Lucille Clifton: Her Life and Letters to readers who want
to experience the richness that a popular culture approach to a subject can bring,
specialists in women’s studies, poetry, and African American studies, and to
general readers interested in being inspired by the monumental life and
accomplishment of Lucille Clifton.
Caroline Maun, Wayne State University