''Zong!'' is a 2008 book-length poem by Canadian writer

M. NourbeSe Philip Marlene Nourbese Philip (born 3 February 1947), usually credited as M. NourbeSe Philip, is a Canadian poet, novelist, playwright, essayist and short story writer. Life and works Born in the Caribbean in Woodlands, Moriah, Trinidad and Tobago, W ...

. The work was first published in the U.S. by

Wesleyan University Press Wesleyan University Press is a university press that is part of Wesleyan University in Middletown, Connecticut. The press is currently directed by Suzanna Tamminen, a published poet and essayist. History and overview Founded (in its present for ...

and by

The Mercury Press The Mercury Press is a Canadian publishing company which publishes literary fiction, poetry, and non-fiction works by Canadians. Mercury has a substantial jazz list and has also published murder mysteries. Books published by Mercury have won or bee ...

in Canada. Phillip has frequently staged full-length readings of the poem internationally as performance art. The poem focuses on victims of the ''Zong'' massacre, approximately 150 enslaved Africans who were murdered for insurance purposes in 1781. Reaction to the massacre and the lawsuits surrounding the case would propel the British abolitionist movement forward. The entire poem is compromised solely of words found in the 1783 case Gregson v Gilbert which determined that the massacre was legal.

Controversies

In 2016,

Phillip Philip, also Phillip, is a male given name, derived from the Greek (''Philippos'', lit. "horse-loving" or "fond of horses"), from a compound of (''philos'', "dear", "loved", "loving") and (''hippos'', "horse"). Prominent Philips who popularize ...

was approached by award-winning Italian translator Renata Morresi about translating her work for Italian audiences. Phillip would later go on to denounce the Italian translation after it went forward without her knowledge or consent after her American publishers sold the rights. Phillip has also accused Dutch playwright

Rana Hamadeh Rana Hamadeh (born 1983) is an artist from Lebanon based in the Netherlands. Her interdisciplinary projects span theatrical performances, sound, text and cartographic works, among others, allowing for a discursive approach to subject matter. A ...

of heavily using her research and poem in her opera ''

The Ten Murders of Josephine ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the m ...

''. In a lengthy blog post she criticized Hamadeh for her use of the poem and its structure.

References

{{Reflist 2008 poetry books