To Float in the Space Between: A Life and Work in Conversation with the Life and Work of Etheridge Knight

Bagley Wright Lecture Series

by Terrance Hayes

“Hayes leaves resonance cleaving the air.” ―NPR In these works based on his Bagley Wright lectures on the poet Etheridge Knight, Terrance Hayes offers not quite a biography but a compilation “as speculative, motley, and adrift as Knight himself.” Personal yet investigative, poetic yet scholarly, this multi-genre collection of writings and drawings enacts one poet’s search for another and in doing so constellates a powerful vision of black literature and art in America.

Genres: Poetry, Nonfiction, Essays, Memoir, Biography, School, African American

224 pages, Paperback

First published September 4, 2018

About the author

Terrance Hayes is the author of six poetry collections, including American Sonnets for My Past and Future Assassin, How to Be Drawn, and Lighthead, which won the National Book Award. He is a MacArthur Fellow and teaches at the University of Pittsburgh.

Reviews

[Ken · Rating 5 out of 5]

Sometimes a book's beauty lies in its imperfections. In this case, though, it's hard calling Terrance Hayes to task for his "biography" (heavy quotes) of the poet Etheridge Knight because he freely admits up front that it isn't really a biography as we know it. Check out the subtitle: "A Life and Work in Conversation With the Life and Work of Etheridge Knight."

Turns out, this failure to live up to genre type works to Hayes' advantage. It starts kinda, sorta like a biography of Knight, but it quickly gets off track, back on track, and off track again. Like a conversation.

Remember a favorite teacher from your past who was forever going off on tangents? When a book's hallmark become its asides and the digressions entertain and provide variety, the reader is oddly grateful that strict adherence to genre has been tossed out the window. Meaning: Hayes follows thoughts where Knight leads them.

Thus, some chapters are all about the life of Knight, such as we know it (Etheridge was not adverse to stretchers and myths). Hayes even interviews members of Knight's circles (friends, family members, etc.). Still, when a man does time in prison and struggles with addictions, the factual road is long and bumpy and even disappears into the thickets now and then.

Here's Hayes talking about a Knight poem, sharing it on these pages, analyzing it a bit -- its strengths and weaknesses. Here's Hayes talking about one of his own poems, inspired by Knight's, sharing that, and discussing it. Now Hayes is talking about some poetry conference, leaving Knight for his own experiences in said conference. Which leads Hayes to a philosophical stretch on writing in general, poetry in particular, what leads to good poetry and bad. Tripping Hayes into the matter of poetry and politics. Then into Langston Hughes. Then into countless other Black poets, into Black Lives Matter, into the right and wrong of Cave Canem being exclusive.

For a stretch toward the end, the script is completely flipped as Hayes explores his own roots. Now he is interviewing not members of Knight's family, but his own, starting with the father he never met, the half-brothers he never knew. As members of the Hayes family served in the military, the book turns to the role of Black men in the service, racism, duty to country vs. family, and so on.

You might criticize this book for being all over the place, but I loved it for this exact reason. You say it cannot find its identity, and I say it luxuriated in the freedom of variety. I never quite knew which direction the book would take, and genre-wise, it truly did "float in the space between," a space I grew increasingly comfortable with.

Better yet? I got a few leads on poets I want to read, particularly one Christopher Gilbert, a Black poet unknown to me, one who merited an entire chapter.

So, 5 stars then? Who the hell knows. If it makes you happy, 4.5. One example of a slight disappointment might be the brief bit about writer Mary Karr, a memoirist/poet who teaches at Syracuse University. She once was a student of Knight's, so Hayes interviewed her, but there's precious little about Knight from the interview. Instead, we get a brief snapshot of Karr herself, a personality to be reckoned with and imperfect in her own way as we all are in ours. But even that "slight disappointment" was more than compensated for because, well, it was entertaining to read.

If you like poetry or have interest in Black literary studies or are keen on writing theory or want to learn a little more (vs. a lot more) about Etheridge Knight or have enjoyed some of Terrance Hayes poetry in the past, you're part of that uniquely small demographic that should be reading this book. I was led to it by author Peter Orner, whose new book due out in October led me to this one. This one, in turn, is leading me to Christopher Gilbert's Turning Into Dwelling, which I have already ordered. And when one good book leads me to another, I'm a happy camper, spreading stars like Johnny Appleseed, dreaming of future trees and the fruit to be had in climbing them.

Bottom line: Recommended, if you're the right person. (How's that for playing it safe?)

[Briana · Rating 5 out of 5]

PHENOMENAL
I already am itching to reread it

[Craig Werner · Rating 4 out of 5]

Hard to guess what this book would mean to someone who doesn't know (and probably love) Etheridge Knight's poetry. The book's more about Hayes than Etheridge, who I knew briefly when I was living in Mississippi and whose best poetry (The Idea of Ancestry, Feeling Fucked Up, For Malcolm) is as good as it gets. Hayes circles around Knight's complex life--incarceration, battles with addiction, family tangles--and tests a number of voices, from dream to sketch to memoir to bits of his own poetry responding to Knight's. For me, the best chapter was the one in which Hayes riffs on questions of poetic influence with Langston Hughes' "The Negro Poet and the Racial Mountain" as his point of departure.

[keondra freemyn · Rating 5 out of 5]

what a gorgeous work by hayes. i don’t know where to begin. the title really captures the scope of the collection - hayes’ life and work in conversation with knight’s. hayes’ analysis never veers too far into the abstract making it a pleasurable and informative read for non-scholars (like me) and scholars alike. truly beautiful and will certainly re-read.

[Greg Bem · Rating 5 out of 5]

The more mature Hayes writes on Etheridge Knight with profound intensity and totality. Utilizing his self-described/defined "liquid poetics," Hayes moves back and forth between form and genre. This is a loose collection, but one that benefits from looseness--it fills in the cracks and offers room for pondering and inquiry. The world will benefit from a study of this collection, and hopefully we see more work like this from Hayes soon.

[Bailey :) · Rating 5 out of 5]

Such a gorgeous book, one of my favorites. I just finished teaching it. Hayes talks about "a poet on the trail of a poet as opposed to a scholar on the trail of a poet," and how he is writing not a biography, but is rather interested in the idea of a biography. What we end up with is what the book's subtitle suggests: A life and work in conversation with the life and work of Etheridge Knight. These two poets / thinkers are brilliant, and it's so fascinating to watch them unravel each other.

[Ava Jast · Rating 3 out of 5]

i had to read this book for class and it my favourite of the 3 that I read. That being said it isn’t normally a book i’d pick up - despite the interesting topic and the fact that it’s very well written i just couldn’t find myself getting carried away in the book much because it wasn’t on a topic i personally cared for much. It would be great if you feel like ethridge knight though!

[Shaun · Rating 5 out of 5]

I discovered Hayes poetry earlier this year, on the recommendation of a colleague. After reading his poetry collection How to Be Drawn, I discovered this beautiful work. Straddling several genres, To Float in the Space Between is a great book for lovers of poetry, process, and the at of creation. Hayes takes Etheridge Knight as his focus throughout the book, as he interrogates the man's life, his influence on Hayes' own life specifically, and his influence on poetics in general. Reading Knight through Hayes (sometimes vice-versa) is a fascinating experience. Hayes himself produces extremely intimate and well thought out pieces on poetry through Knight, Wanda Coleman, Yousef Komunyaaka, and others, and reading these pieces helped to illuminate the depth of Hayes poetry.

I would strongly recommend this book to anyone interested in the work of Etheridge Knight, but not so interested in a direct biography/critical text on him. Hayes brings the dramatic and poetic power to the text unlike any other writer I have seen before. It is like a letter to a mentor more than a critical text. I would also recommend this as a piece to accompany Hayes' own poetry, as it includes some snippets and full poems, as well as the story/process behind them. The already vivacious poet comes alive between this pages with a distinct human presence. There is tenderness rather than distance - a gorgeous painting of a man in conversation with life, love, and influence.

[Sam · Rating 4 out of 5]

Obviously, before you read this book, you need to be familiar with Etheridge Knight's poetry. Just kidding--this book is at least as much about the poet's biography as it is about his poems, and you could probably get a lot out of this work even without having read any of Knight's verses. Hayes does quote Knight fairly liberally, and I really enjoyed how the book was structured around "The Idea of Ancestry." His initial close examination sets the table for zooming out and bringing his own ideas and experiences of ancestry (or lack thereof) into contact with Knight. I felt like I learned a good bit about the poetry world that Knight inhabited, about 50 years ahead of my time, and how that world has evolved into our current situation. This combination of scholarly and creativity works really well, and I hope more poets tackle projects like this.

[Robert Reinhard · Rating 5 out of 5]

Brilliant and innovative in style, thought, words, defense of poetry and art. Some way through these pages, Hayes metaphorically describes how poets influence, learn from, or network or share with or admire each other and this book is a testament to how he has done those things not only with his contemporaries but also with poets past and distant. That he starts with Etheridge Knight is a bonus to readers like myself who needed a guide there. Later Hayes says in expanded metaphor a poem is a house a house is a poem. He inserts into that image the same full effect as before other writers said "The greatest poem is these United States" or "the world is a book"
You could not label the genre this work fits into very easily.

[Eden]

Overall, I think this is a very accessible alternative novel. I suppose that comes from comparing it to Carson, which I also had to read in the same Cegep course. I’m left with this novel mostly touched at how much Terrance Hayes cares about Etheridge Knight's legacy, which correlates so deeply to "The Idea of Ancestry" its not even funny. Ancestry involves keeping a record, like Hayes (sort of) does here. It’s Knight’s father’s mother who keeps his uncle in their ancestry. It’s those who love us who will remember us and keep us in our family’s blood, wether that family be one based on biology, the military or poetry.

[Jack Heller · Rating 5 out of 5]

Lately, every book breaks my heart. I am a volunteer in an Indiana prison, and Etheridge Knight began as a poet while incarcerated in an Indiana prison. I have read this book after reading both The Essential Etheridge Knight and Terrance Hayes's book with a title like My American Assassin. (I know I have his title wrong, but I am unable to look it up while writing this.) Anyway, Hayes reflects upon the genesis of poetry, Knight's biography, and his own life in a way that shows a way to interact with poetry.

[Jordan · Rating 5 out of 5]

I took a long time to read this one, picking it up for a chapter or two and leaving it back on the stack. It wasn't out of boredom but rather just a fitting kind of pace. I had never read an Etheridge Knight poem or a Terrance Hayes poem. I knew the publisher and that was enough. But now I need to read more of both men. It's a beautiful book, a winding almost biography, a series of almost interlocking parallels across two lives, similar and different. Ruminations of poetry, family, ancestry, blackness, and masculinity. Just gorgeous.

[Grant Banys · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was initially drawn to this book by the gripping introduction Etheridge Knight apparently gave to many crowds at his readings and at various other events - concerning his life being saved twice, by narcotics, then by poetry. But following the completion of this work, I find that I have come to know Knight as Hayes has come to know him - through a starkly personal, vulnerable, and honest perspective provided by the author I feel that I have come to know one of my new favorite poets, as seen through the eyes of one of my other new favorite poets.

[Carolyn · Rating 4 out of 5]

At first, I didn’t like this quite as much as “Watch Your Language”..: but by the end I was all in, hanging on every word.

Things I need to read now:
—Toi Derricotte’s “On the Turning Up of Unidentified Black Female Corpses” vs Henry Taylor’s “Landscape with Tractor”
—Wanda Coleman’s collection “Mercurochrome”
—Christopher Gilbert’s collection “Across the Mutual Landscape”

Two books of his prose and two books of his poetry in and Terrance Hayes is right up there with Percival Everett to me—two of our best living writers.

[Erik Moe · Rating 5 out of 5]

A beautiful book examining the lives and writing of two poets (Knight and Hayes himself). Hayes has structured the book in a creative and accessible way inspired by the lines of a Knight poem. I did not know much about either poet before picking up the book based on recommendations of other writers and now have much more to dig in to, not just Knight and Hayes’ works, but other voices Hayes comes to explore on this journey. Highly recommend.

[Kiwi · Rating 5 out of 5]

wow, wow, wow. idk how hayes does it but i've learned so much about the craft of poetry, etheridge knight, hayes himself, and other poets that i definitely need to start keeping track of all under such beautiful prose. this is a quite literal line-by-line analysis of "the idea of ancestry," but there's tons of hidden gems here that i found ALL to be relevant. obviously not everyone here thinks the same, but i'm taking this in like a work of art. so beautifully done

[Onyi]

Searching, searching always and for ourselves. This is a fascinating book about a poet discovering himself in others, discovering other poets and people bound by their journeys into discovery. Hayes writes that the biography tells us more about the biographer, but what does the reading tell us about the reader? Do we have enough agency for that?

“Read my lines, be my mind” Christopher Gilbert implores us. Thank you for finding me, Hayes. I might go on finding others, too.

[Simón · Rating 3 out of 5]

As a writer, I'm curious about the unusual structure of this book, mixing poetry analysis with biography, cultural history, and personal essay. But it never quite came together for me. It felt like a short essay needed more stuff, so Hayes threw in info about residencies he attended, his family, and just followed tangents for a long time.

[Tyler Barton · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is an incredible act of love and searching. Not a biography. “I am a good talker, but I have no sense of plot. I prefer imagination over research,” Hayes says.

After reading this book I have discovered 5 other books I need to read.

I had no idea who Etheridge Knight was before this book but I still loved just about every essay in here.

[Michael · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book. The title is just right. It begins with a meditation on Etheridge Knight and then the story weaves in and through the author’s/the poet’s life in wondrous ways as he goes in search of his father, his family, his muses, his inspiration(s). It is a delightful read. I’m so glad I read it.

[Peter · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this hodge podge of biography, personal experience and black experience in poetry. Although I have met many of the people mentioned and discussed this sure went deeper than being able to hello. I learned a great deal and would recommend it to anyone interested in contemporary poetry.

[bananajo · Rating 4 out of 5]

A conversation might be the easiest way to describe this work, though I'm not sure I have the word for it. I'm not sure I quite liked this, but it was interesting and I appreciated reading his thoughts about poetry, art, life, and Etheridge Knight.

(June 2025)

[Donald Quist · Rating 5 out of 5]

Brilliant.

[blue · Rating 4 out of 5]

wow.. theres so much i can learn from this

[Matt T · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read this 200 page monograph in one sitting. For me, that means it must involve questions of personal urgency and it must be light. Perhaps I read it too fast. While Hayes explicitly announces his refusal to be a dutiful biographer from the first page on, I found myself wishing he’d pushed a bit further with his research and he left me craving for more knowledge about the life, the writing and the addictive cycles of his ostensible target, Etheridge Knight. No bad thing, and I couldn’t help admire Hayes's flip incorporation of his own convoluted family histories into this dialogue with a literary father figure. Not the anxiety of influence so much as a return of the prodigal son.

An ungenerous critic might say that this work is an indulgent bricolage of disparate scattered texts brought together by Hayes’s own quaint afro-centric Benny Andrews-stye illustration and the need to fulfil a book contract. I say it is a poetics in motion, made up as it goes, the analysis of Knight’s ‘As you leave me’ a great example of judicious critical writing. While neither hagiographic nor sentimental, Hayes has a way of pinpointing, line-by-line, Knight’s strengths and limits as a poet in a way that seems both insightful and compassionate.

In a nod to the genealogical approach, the formal organization of this study is guided by biological tropes of cell growth, inspired as it is by Knight’s ‘Idea of Ancestry’. The only bum note for me was in Hayes’s attempt to splice in Zygmunt Bauman’s popular if underdefined notion of ‘liquid modernity’ which seemed like an amateurish venture into theory. In contrast, the autobiographical section where Hayes recounts how he met up with his biological father as an adult was brave and considered. Everything points to Hayes being conceived through not-quite-consensual sex, but what really happened remains murky and he resists the easy temptation to condemn.

Overall, it is this candor which is so refreshing, and the reader gets a sense of Hayes’s liberation from his own prohibitions of the lax confessional style. Imagine Mondrian being loose and gay in his atelier after a successful exhibition. The results would excite and repel but if you are a fan it cannot fail to arouse your interest.

[Austin · Rating 5 out of 5]

“Lyric time is a crisis of narrative—story spiraling out of control.”