Reviewers Praise Matthew Sivils's Editions of Posey's Works

Two collections of the works of the Muscogee (Creek) writer Alexander Posey--edited by Assistant Professor of English, Matthew Wynn Sivils--continue to win praise from literary scholars.

On Sivils’s edition of Posey’s poems, Song of the Oktahutche: Collected Poems (University of Nebraska Press, 2008)

“. . . nothing is lacking in this volume. Complete with an excellent introductory essay, annotations, and source notes, as well as the inclusion of multiple versions of some poems and a chronological presentation, this collection will be invaluable to scholars and students alike and would serve as an excellent example of Native American artistic voice during the Allotment Era, with sufficient scholarly support provided by the editor in order to lead scholars and students toward further study. Finally, a collection of poems that Creeks, Native American literature readers, and even Posey would be proud of!”

--Tol Foster, American Indian Culture and Research Journal 34.4 (2010) 132-134.

On Sivils’s edition of Posey’s autobiographical works, Lost Creeks: Collected Journals (University of Nebraska Press, 2009)

“This book is an excellent addition to Native American collections in either academic or public libraries.”

--Philenese Slaughter, American Indian Libraries Newsletter 33.2 (2010) 16.

“Matthew Wynn Sivils’s Lost Creeks: Collected Poems represents a significant contribution to the recovery of this period and affords for the first time a glimpse into the personal life and critical mind of one of Indian Territory’s most accomplished, if not enigmatic, figures. . . . Sivils provides extensive contextual information—just more than half of the text’s 187 pages—that specialists in Indian letters and generalists will find useful. . . . If, as one critic notes, Posey stands as ‘one of the great semi-secrets of American literature,’ Lost Creeks will undoubtedly go a long way in making that secret known.”

--Kirby Brown, American Indian Culture and Research Journal 34.4 (2010): 127-129.

And in a combined review of both books, Joshua B. Nelson writes:

“The river weaves in and out of Posey’s recently published collected journals and poetry, edited and introduced by Matthew Sivils. Practically unavailable until now, these autobiographical sketches and poems about Muscogee politics and place offer a fascinating look into Posey’s formative writing life during a crucial historical moment . . . A list of Posey’s personal library now held by Bacone College is also included, as is Sivils’s useful biography and thorough introduction.”

Joshua B. Nelson, Studies in American Indian Literatures 22.4 (2010) 88-93.