Radiant Wound

<p class=ql-align-justify><strong><em>Radiant Wound</em></strong> is both an anthem and a lament a poetic exploration of life between cultures languages and the landscapes of Côte d'Ivoire. In this debut collection Cara Waterfall captures the vibrant textures and deep dissonances of life abroad after the Second Ivorian Civil War navigating the complex experience of being a geographical cultural and linguistic outsider. Her verses take readers through striking scenes: from the crocodile-guarded presidential palace in Yamoussoukro and the colonial past of Grand-Bassam to the intimate spaces of a woodcarver's studio and the Gbangbo River where the laundrymen wash clothes.</p><p class=ql-align-justify></p><p class=ql-align-justify>Supported by a National Geographic Glimpse Correspondents Program grant in 2012 Waterfall's poems draw from the stories and encounters she gathered for her features Rebelles: Ivoirian women fight for change and Art as Reconciliation. Her collection breathes life into voices often unheard from a young girl making charcoal in San Pedro to HIV-positive women and vulnerable children in Yopougon and even the neglected animals of the Abidjan Zoo. <em>Radiant Wound</em> reflects on tradition resilience and survival bearing witness to the long imperfect journey toward healing.</p><p class=ql-align-justify></p>