24 Mennonite poets

A Capella: Mennonite Voices in Poetry Edited by Ann Hostetler. University of Iowa Press, 2003. 199 pages.

A Capella is an anthology of recent poetry by American and Canadian “Mennonite” poets. Ann Hostetler, in a very helpful introduction, says she used the following criteria for deciding which poets to include: “be born into and/or be nurtured by one of the diverse groups whose designation includes the word ‘Mennonite’ . . . , be a member of or regularly attend a Mennonite congregation, or be raised by or strongly influenced by close family relatives who are Mennonite.” Many of the poems reflect various aspects of Mennonite cultural and religious traditions from both positive and negative perspectives.

The book includes a biography of each of the 24 poets and also a helpful Afterword on the growth of contemporary Mennonite poetry in North America. Though the majority of the poets are from the U.S., there are also Canadian poets, including Sarah Klassen, Jean Janzen (who lives in California), Leonard Neufeldt (who lives in Washington), Patrick Friesen, David Waltner Toews, Di Brandt, Audrey Poetker, and Barbara Nickel. Of the 24, only two are members of Mennonite Brethren churches.

Like most poetry, this collection reflects each poet’s observations about the life and traditions in which she or he lives and participates. Put together, the collection becomes, at least in part, a mirror that reflects both the diversity of experience and the celebratory and sometimes disturbingly similar patterns that emerge in communities that make up the North American Mennonite world. The poems will make you laugh and cry, and some will make you angry. We do well, though, to listen carefully to the varying sides of the literary conversation in which these brothers and sisters are engaging. In fact, this book is a gift of perception. It offers a view of our changing community – its stories and traditions as well as its struggles to come to terms with the world around us.

Lori Matties is a member of River East MB Church, Winnipeg.