Valérie Déus

Skull-Filled Sun Valérie Déus

In her debut short collection of poems, Skull-Filled Sun, Haitian-American poet Valérie Déus evinces a strong voice full of "...jazz riffed, watercolor vignettes that create a gorgeous melange of Kreyol garnished musings... The voice is at once experiencer and witness, revealing multiple perspectives on the roads that all children of the African diaspora must travel" (Keisha-Gaye Anderson). Down the streets of Brooklyn where she grew up or from her current home of Minneapolis, Déus shares honest emotion, strong imagery, and musical language in her poetry, "... with a new and glowing syntax, weaving worlds together, making what seems foreign downright native..." (Danielle Legros Georges). Déus poems embody the life of a second-second-generation Haitian immigrant living in today's America--less the dream of her parents and more a place of overlapping boundaries, identity performance, and cultural expectations. Readers walk with her on the streets, play with her and her friends, love and hurt alongside this woman making her way, following her own path. "In Skull Filled Sun, innovation and energy bubble up through the language of the night, the language of Haitian mothers and of Brooklyn streets. Brown girls run the city, they run the world, and in this stunning collection, Valerie Deus generously lets us ride along" (Brenda Coultas). From "Bar Hopping," the first section, to "Bridges," the second, these thirty-five pages provide poetic pleasure and invaluable insight on every line of every poem.