Voyage of the Sable Venus Summary
Robin Coste Lewis

Voyage of the Sable Venus Overview

In Voyage of the Sable Venus, Robin Coste Lewis examines the relationship among Blackness, womanhood, and beauty, as well as their combined histories. The collection's titular poem uses only the titles of Western artworks featuring a Black female figure to construct a narrative which brings these forgotten women back to life. The collection’s pieces, together with "Voyage of the Sable Venus," weave a collection that examines the power of language and art, the history of blackness in the West, the construction of beauty, and the strength of the feminine.