Blessings from a New World: Poems - Tapa blanda

The symbiotic relationship between poems and paintings is explored in this stimulating volume. As a premiere example of convergence art, in which two or more different kinds of art react to and interact with one another, the collection draws a comparison between multidisciplinary art and multiculturalism by equating medium with race. By pairing the work of a renowned poet and public artist with the paintings of a beloved children’s book illustrator, the book shows how effectively art can take a multimedia approach and yet convey a single message: how new historical and cultural possibilities can arise when differing disciplines work together, whether referring to different kinds of art or different kinds of people.

Estella Conwill Majozo is a professor of English at the University of Louisville, where she teaches creative writing and African American literature. She is the author of Jiva Telling Rites, Libation: A Literary Pilgrimage Through the African American Soul, and Metamorphosis. She lives in New York City. Tom Feelings is the illustrator of Moja Means One, a Swahili counting book, and Jambo Means Hello, a Swahili alphabet book, both of which were selected as Caldecott Honor books.