‘Nicole Sealey’s The Ferguson Report: an erasure is a very powerful document, which plays in fascinating and evocative ways with that very loaded word, ‘erasure’ … Its painstakingly deft working of poetry from such dark material demonstrates how we might actually live with such texts amid the world they represent.’ – Ian Pople, The High Window
"Nicole Sealey’s The Ferguson Report: An Erasure comes to us first in fragments – at times not even syllables, ah or id – but as a feeling, the unsayable constructing itself as we read along or listen. The paced rhythm is almost painfully made as if fleshy blips on the heart meter – a ghostly master text beneath. One feels subliminal truths cumulate out of a visceral engagement, and then the emergence of eight inspired poems."— Yusef Komunyakaa
"This landmark poetry book illuminates what it means to live in this frightening age, and what it means to bear witness." – Natasha Onwuemezi, The Bookseller
"Sealey takes the US justice department’s investigation into the titular city’s police department after the 2014 killing of Michael Brown by one of its officers, then erases most of its words to reveal the underlying violence. Individual letters are picked out to form fragments, ratcheting up the tension as the eye moves down the page: “use-of-force. Force / of habit. Of nature. Force / feed. Force down. Force / his hand. Force in line”. From the strangulated legalese emerges a bleak, shocking beauty."- Rishi Dastidar, The Guardian (Poetry Books of the Month)
‘Sealey distils the lines into what they really mean on a guttural, human level, making the report accessible. This is poetry as truth, both literal and emotional. This is not a redaction, but a speaking up. A testimony... The Ferguson Report: An Erasure is a masterclass in found poetry, and a testament to the power of poetry as a visual form. Nicole Sealey is unafraid of taking up space, of wielding the silence of others as a ‘Blunt / force to be reckoned with’. This is essential reading.’ - Ellora Sutton, Mslexia
