an identity polyptych

an identity polyptych is a multi-part, multi-genre experiment that explores familial estrangement, identity as a mixed-race Black person, and movement towards reconciliation. It can be considered a memoir. The book works to find peace, even if it feels next to impossible. It keeps in mind the trickiness of memory, the effects of trauma, the necessity and constant work of healing, and an unfulfilled wish to feel a true sense of belonging.

The book begins with a question rendered as a statement: “I do not know when reconciliation comes.” This statement haunts the text in order to serve as a bookend, rendered as an echoing set of ellipses. When Coleman was writing this book, they did not know how to tell their story (let alone if they should), and like the echoing sets of ellipses in the text, they’re left—even after much personal work—with so many questions, and so many things left unresolved.

Their desire for reconciliation and healing shines throughout. This book—the author’s first—honors the first steps of healing. The first is to find the words for, and to name the things that ail us so that we may continue on.