Lashley, Robert: Green River Valley

Blue Cactus Press, paperback

Publication Date: June 19, 2021

Publisher Marketing: Green River Valley is an unapologetic and harrowing look at gentrification, racism, and personal and collective loss in Lashley’s hometown of Tacoma, Washington. With each poem, Lashley asks readers to bear witness to his lived experiences there and to honor the people, places and memories that shaped him alongside the city we know today. This collection showcases Lashley’s signature, rhythmic eloquence and acuity more than ever. His narrative threads expose hidden intimacies amid trauma and ambivalence in the face of institutionalized racism.

“The superpower of Robert Lashley as a writer is how generously he repeatedly and consistently works to offer you a place within the environments he builds. His relationship with place as a touchable, breathing entity and his desire for you to get there, too. Green River Valley is a book that continues in this lineage. You are present in the poems, with the buildings, with the neighbors and mothers and the songs of birds. So much gratitude for this offering.” — Hanif Abdurraqib, author of Go Ahead in the Rain and A Fortune for Your Disaster