Reviews

Agringada: Like a gringa, like a foreigner by Tariro Ndoro

ann3_blyth3's review

5.0

This collection is astonishing: heartfelt and sometimes harrowing, and deeply, finely attentive to the world, to other people, to language and space and silence. You come away from it with your empathy and your attention awakened to the world. A debut of rare power, clarity, and light.

lauren_endnotes's review

Great use of etymology and imagery in Ndoro's collection.
"People in My Pelt", "Breaking a Bronco", "Mustang", "Hyssop", and the micro prose of "Movies in Braille" were among the highlights.

"Movies in Braille" was also printed in the Kalahari Review in 2018: https://kalaharireview.com/movies-in-braille-acd8c1ad8648

alinemsc's review

5.0

I have been carrying around, “Agringada like a gringa, like a foreigner” poems by Tariro Ndoro and I'm in love with her words. Between prose and rhythmic stanzas, dictionary definitions adapted to her words, I have been nodding along as I go. There is a shared experience when you move around a lot and you speak several languages. Even if you come from different backgrounds. You feel gringa, like a foreigner, in whatever situation you are in.
"What is a word? A powerful thing. What is a language? A way of saying words/powerful things." The following poem is one my favorites...

“Mustang
mustang (ˈmʌstaŋ) noun an animal that strays [from Spanish mesteno (feral, stray, undomesticated) (from Latin mixta (animals with unknown proprietorship)]
mestengo noun the girl who has to hesitate before she speaks because she must double-check that she is thinking in the correct language so that her words are not misconstrued. For instance, she must speak loudly in Shona or else, she is gossiping but when she speaks English, it must be soft and 'civilised'
mestengo noun a girl of vague ownership: wild, adrift.
Belongs to you but not entirely.”

"Curse is
you will never fit in
Blessing is
you will never want to."

janescayre's review

4.0

Full disclosure: I was involved in the publishing process and editing process but I still think this is an exceptional collection.