M-A-C-N-O-L-I-A

WINNER OF THE 2004 ANISFIELD-WOLF BOOK AWARD

A true story lies behind this haunting collection. In 1936, MacNolia Cox became the first African American to reach the final round of the national spelling bee competition. The Southern judges, it is thought, kept her from winning by presenting a word not on the official list.

Though she had been an A student and dreamed of being a doctor, MacNolia left school, married, and worked as a domestic in the home of a physician—“They say she/ Spelled like a demon…/She’s the best damn maid in town.”

M-A-C-N-O-L-I-A is a poignant commentary on one life and on the social and racial attitudes of the Depression thirties.

INDIEBOUND

AMAZON

Praise for

M-A-C-N-O-L-I-A

“Multi-voiced, collaged, and sometimes experimental in form…, these poems surprise us with their range and approach…A narrative that breaks your heart with an intimacy most poets writing about their own lives could only dream to achieve.”

— VIRGINIA QUARTERLY REVIEW

Macnolia Praise

M-A-C-N-O-L-I-A

WINNER OF THE 2004 ANISFIELD-WOLF BOOK AWARD

Praise for

M-A-C-N-O-L-I-A

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— VIRGINIA QUARTERLY REVIEW