Description
I’m a burnt tongue
crying for the promised river…
If I had to go to war, I would want Daley Rangi on my side. Their rainbow-razored-edge-phrasing excoriates the coloniser and the queermisia, all whilst smouldering at racism. Each page is a pūkana of reclamation and hope. Burnt Tongue is flavoured by deceptive truths and awkward reveals with an aftertaste of dark humour and lightning sharp quips. No doubt, Rangi’s tūpuna are singing loudly and proudly for this authentic and brave takatāpui of our time. — Anne-Marie Te Whiu
Editor’s Note
If there is one thing that writers agree upon, it is that there is a terror when words germinate from beneath the surface. For writers never know what fruits the words may bear, and if they will bring poison or pain or hate or shame.
With Burnt Tongue, Daley Rangi persisted through the terror, watering their shrivelled family sapling, heaping care upon their words, labouring until their words grew into a glowing collection. Their collection opens with ‘Is This How I Say It?’, a multilingual poem that explores the power of language, dreaming for a day where language no longer divides. As readers continue, they are treated to language in its many shapes and forms, poems which challenge the senses, imagery that is mesmerising but not over-written. Like Ka mua, ka muri, the readers walk backwards into the future, transcend space and time. Turn fluid. Venture through the night. And by ‘Here Falls the Shadow’, they have become privy to wisdom, and truth, and love, and secrets.
If there is another thing that writers agree upon, it is that there is a resolution once words have been written. Not withering, Burnt Tongue concludes with something like hope, resolute, for more words that have yet to be written.
DALEY RANGI is a Māori antidisciplinary artist generating the unpredictable — speaking truth to power, reorienting hierarchies, and investigating injustice. They’ve made a lot of art — not all of it good, but most of it interesting. They are neurodivergent, which appears to infiltrate their work. For them, self-biographies are all-at-once discomforting, superfluous, and crucial; in constant dialogue with colonial systems. Daley, like their practice, is inspired by ancestry and still searching for answers.
About Green Leaves / Red River
Green Leaves / Red River is a collaboration between Centre for Stories and Red River. The project supports eight poets from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds to publish their first book of poetry. The project also provides editorial fellowships to emerging editors. It has been made possible with funding from the West Australian Department of Local Government, Sport and Cultural Industries.
The series is a collaboration that connects people from different cities with different histories and different experiences, all towards creating a poetic culture that is distinct and unique. With a focus on artistic excellence, Green Leaves / Red River nurtures new voices and supports poets no matter their place in the world. It is a way to share opportunities, to think in an original way, and to continue making poetry visible and valued.
We are proud of the work we can do based here in New Delhi and Perth, and acknowledge the traditional owners of both places. Thanks to the readers and dedicated to all the poets out there, Green Leaves / Red River will entertain, intrigue and enlighten you.