The Butterfly Tree: An Anthology of Black Writing from the Upper Midwest

The Butterfly Tree, edited by novelist Conrad Balfour, is the second in an on-going series of ethnic anthologies published by New Rivers Press as part of its Many Minnesotas Project. We hope, in time, to present to the reading public a comprehensive collection of regional writing that truly represents the multifarious heritages making up the background of the population of this part of America. Most of the writing in these anthologies is by living Americans, some of whom have gained professional recognition for their work but many of whom have never been published before. The reader will find a broad range of material here, in poetry and prose, and, even more significantly, a great variety in style, voice, and subject matter. Certainly the "Black experience" is reflected in many ways — the sense of alienation or alternative ways of perceiving reality, and the inevitable rebelliousness of the young and the not-so-young, which is so dramatically reflected in Pamela Fletcher's story, "The Parting." But what is most striking to the non-Black reader is the sense of craft and the desire to excel, radiating throughout this collection. The nostalgia for a way of life closer to nature and the land, a nostalgia common to most urbanites, is present here as might be expected, but it comes out in sometimes utterly unique and beautiful ways, as in Alexs D. Pate's story "The Butterfly Tree." Equally apparent in this material is the desire for a reconciliation that transcends race and is truly visionary. Nowhere is this spirit better reflected than in the graphics by Ta-coumba T. Aiken, most of which were done especially for this collection.