Praise for Jelly Roll

I feel it is a rarity for poets to allow themselves to play linguistically with their poems, or maybe just play in general. So many poets take themselves and their work so seriously, somehow along the line their poems become a monotonous, intelligent whine. This is not, in any way, the case for Kevin Young's Jelly Roll. The collection of poems dance from page to page with simple colloquial language, effortless rhymes and tight lines. Jazz and blues rings out of each stanza, inciting one to desire to sing the poem while reading aloud.

Some reviewers of Jelly Roll have compared Young to the great Langston Hughes, while aesthetically their work doesn't seem to be alike, the musical prosody is much the same. The word choice, topics and internal rhymes of the poems are alive, youthful, sexy and exciting: "Gimme some fruit, baby/ Gimme some fru-uit/Something red/ & juicy I can sink/ these teeths into." Young's intelligence is seen in his ability to take language and break it down for the poems benefit, as poet he is not worried about what one may think of him, he cares about the music of the picture he is creating. He brings the sounds of the south alive with images and rhymes, " Who can stand/ spring? The weeping/ willows drooping/ The azaleas bright". This collection is a very important collection for young poets to read, to remember that though it may be 'easier' to take yourself seriously in your writing, it could be brilliant to break your language down and remember how to play.