changing, changing
“Once there was a boy. And once there was a girl.”
So begins this story of metamorphoses, of life, and of possibility. The young protagonists of the opening lines take turns embodying facets of the world around them, undergoing transformations of quiet but mythical proportions. She becomes the moon, a tribe, an island. He becomes a bull, the sky, a kite. Bright, imaginative images of raw beauty illustrate each transformation.
changing, changing is a joyful celebration of many things. Of the world the children take into themselves as they are reincarnated again and again. Of the imagination, which knows no bounds as they experience the universe from the new perspective of each transformation. As children of African descent, their story is also a celebration of Blackness. Their tumble through the universe is a journey through life, a discovery of the world, themselves, and each other—making changing, changing a celebration of love and of friendship as well.
Adults will see the deeper philosophical message of change as a defining and driving force in life, while children (and adults, too) will delight in this playful romp through the everyday wonders that surround us.
About the Author
Aracelis Girmay is a poet who makes works across genres. She is the author of the poetry collections the black maria (BOA, 2016), Kingdom Animalia (BOA, 2011), and Teeth (Curbstone, 2007). For this work she was a finalist for the Neustadt International Prize for Literature. Her books have also been named finalists for the National Book Critics Circle Award, the Hurston/Wright Legacy Award, and the Connecticut Book Award. She has received fellowships from the Whiting Foundation, Civitella Ranieri, the National Endowment for the Arts, and the Cave Canem Foundation, among others. Girmay is the author of the forthcoming chapbook, and was a flower, made in collaboration with book artist Valentina Améstica. Other recent work includes a picture book collaboration with her sister entitled What Do You Know? and the forthcoming picture book collaboration with artist Diana Ejaita entitled Kamau and Zuzu Find A Way, both with Enchanted Lion Books. Recent works (poetry and prose) have been published or are forthcoming in Astra, The Paris Review online, Periphery Journal, Jewish Currents, The New York Times Magazine, and e-flux.
Girmay is the editor of How to Carry Water: Selected Poems of Lucille Clifton (BOA, 2020) and So We Can Know: Writers of Color on Pregnancy, Loss, Abortion, and Birth (Haymarket Books, 2023). She is on the editorial board of the African Poetry Book Fund and is the editor-at-large of the Blessing the Boats Selections (BOA Editions).