TinHouseBooks's Reviews > Turn Me Loose: The Unghosting of Medgar Evers

Lance Cleland (Workshop Director): While my poetry highs of the year were Patricia Lockwood’s “Rape Joke,” my introduction to Bianca Stone’s work via her upcoming Tin House/Octopus publication, and Mary Szybist’s well deserved National Book Award, the collection that has stayed with me is Frank X Walker’s Turn Me Loose: The Unghosting of Medgar Evers. In its 49 poems, the book recounts the life and death of the civil rights activist through a variety of voices, including Byron De La Beckwith, his assassin. As you might expect, the book fluctuates between love and hate, empathy and rage, and the fact that those emotions can sit so comfortably side-by-side on the page is what makes Walker’s work so vital. It is a testament to both the author and his treatment of the subject matter that events that took place some 50 years ago never feel distant. Part of my love for this collection stems from my discovering it during the Zimmerman trial. And while it is sad that the echoes of hate found in Beckwith’s voice still find us today, I take comfort in knowing that poets like Walker are not distancing themselves from the fight.