BY MEG SULLIVAN
UCLA Today
The idea for Harryette Mullen’s latest
book of poetry came to her in her sleep — literally.
“I woke up in the morning and something was poking me
in the back,” recalled Mullen, an associate professor
of English and African-American studies.
The author of “Sleeping With the Dictionary”
had fallen asleep with her frequent collaborator, the American
Heritage Dictionary. “I use the dictionary to inspire
me,” Mullen explained.
Published by UC Press, “Sleeping With
the Dictionary” has steadily drawn acclaim. The collection
was selected last fall as one of five finalists for the 2002
National Book Award in Poetry. When octogenarian Ruth Stone
won the award, Mullen, who teaches poetry writing and African-American
literature, said she figured “it was all over.”
But then last month, “Sleeping With the
Dictionary” was selected as one of five finalists for
the 2002 National Book Critics Circle Awards in Poetry, given
each year by the nation’s 700 or so active book reviewers.
Winners will be announced Feb. 25.
Mullen, whose four previous collections were
published by small presses, is still pinching herself.
“For years, I’ve been satisfied
with very little: one person saying, ‘I like that poem,’
or a publishing house agreeing to print a poem,” she said.
“I just wanted to express myself.”
The transplanted Texan traces the impulse to growing up among
Baptist ministers, typists, printers, educators and clerks.
“All my closest kin had jobs that involved words,”
she said. Meanwhile, she credits black teachers in the state’s
segregated school system with awakening a love of poetry by
introducing her to Harlem Renaissance poets Langston Hughes,
James Weldon and others.
Another shot of inspiration in the 1960s was
the rise of the Black Arts Movement, the literary arm of the
civil rights and black power movements.
“Black poets didn’t see themselves
as isolated artists,” she said. “They wanted to
take poetry beyond the walls of the library and into the street.”
Steeped in this ethos, Mullen explored black
and female identity in such early collections as “Tree
Tall Women” and “Blues Baby,” which have recently
been combined in a single volume, “Blues Baby: Early Poems”
(Bucknell University Press).
“Sleeping With the Dictionary”
represents something of a departure. More frequently avant-garde
than overtly political, the collection takes inspiration from
all manner of wordplay: acrostic, anagram, homophone, parody,
pun and random word-replacement games.
“African-American poets are much more
integrated into American literary culture than in the past,”
Mullen said. “In the 1960s, we had something to prove
and we did it. Now we’re aware of our need to innovate.
In fact, as we’ve explored our heritage more thoroughly,
we’ve discovered that we have been innovative all along.”
Mullen will give a public reading on April
30 at Scripps College in Claremont. A selection of her poetry
can be found at: www.english.ucla.edu/poetry/mullen
