SOURCE: “A Spectrum of Blackness” in Parnassus: Poetry in Review, Vol. 4, No. 2, 1976, pp. 202-18.

In the following review of Revolutionary Petunias and Other Poems, Turner contrasts Walker's poetry with that of Ishmael Reed, praising Walker's simple style and honesty.

The tradition of versatility among black writers is long and distinguished. Paul Laurence Dunbar, Claude McKay, Countee Cullen, Langston Hughes, Margaret Walker, and Gwendolyn Brooks—all won respect for fiction as well as poetry. So it is no surprise that Alice Walker and Ishmael Reed write fluently in both genres. Although Walker's first book, Once, a collection of poems, was favorably reviewed, she remained relatively unknown until acclaimed for her novel, The Third Life of Grange Copeland (1970). Now, reputation established, she has returned to her primary interest with Revolutionary Petunias. Similarly, most readers know Reed not through his poems, but by his brilliant, zany, satirical fiction. The Free Lance...