Josh Burton’s ‘Grace Engine’ is a story of generational reflection

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A reverent silence fell on Watson Theater as poet and Syracuse University alum Joshua Burton honored the lives of Laura Nelson, Mary Turner and Jim Mcllherron, people lynched in the early 20th century. Burton’s debut volume, “Grace Engine,” which he wrote while in SU’s MFA program, covers the tragedy of their deaths.

“(Being in Syracuse) was the trigger that I needed,” Burton said. “It helped me see myself in my own Blackness. I felt hyper-visible for the first time.”

Burton, who grew up in Houston, Texas, attended the University of Houston before making his way to SU to earn his Masters of Arts in English in 2019. Burton published “Grace Engine” — a collection of poems tackling Burton’s relationship with his family’s history — in 2023. On Wednesday, the Raymond Carver Reading Series hosted his return to SU in Watson Theater.

During the reading, Burton previewed his new work, which focuses on grace and forgiveness. These poems focuse on the idea of time travel to revisit his own life.

At SU, away from his family for the first time, Burton said he was able to see himself in different ways. This distance allowed him to investigate and interact with his generational and personal traumas, topics explored in “Grace Engine” through the lenses of Nelson, Turner and Mcllherron’s lynchings.

Before writing his first volume, Burton wrote a chapbook, a small literary pamphlet, about his mother titled “Fracture Anthology.” In the chapbook, he used the journal entries of his mother to capture her story in an authentic way.

The process was intimate, but didn’t force Burton to reflect on himself in the same way as “Grace Engine.” Burton’s journey of writing the volume was one of discomfort and inspired his growth.

“I have had to look at myself and be as honest with myself,” Burton said. “I always came back to that place … right down to the bottom of myself, to touch and keep coming back to touch, and that reveals more.”

Burton defines grace through multiple lenses. It is not a textbook definition, but rather an emotional journey of hope, forgiveness and compassion to himself, his family and his ancestors.

The Raymond Carver Reading Series brings 12 to 14 distinguished writers to SU every year. The series is part of the Living Writers class at SU where students are encouraged to ask the writers questions about their work.

Teaching assistants from the Creative Writing program, a group Burton was a part of during his time at SU, teach the course. A committee chooses writers to come to the class with an event the Creative Writing Department organizes.

“Everybody was very excited that he could come back and read to the students because his poems are beautiful and important,” said Sarah Harwell, associate teaching professor and director of creative writing.

The book is written in two parts: description and grace. In the first half of the book, the stories of Nelson, Turner and Cullen are told in detail. Burton’s goal was to write about these people without martyring them, allowing for grief without re-traumatizing.

The second part regards grace, welcoming forgiveness and hope for their violent endings. “Grace Engine” is meant to be re-read, said Jasmine Tabor, a MFA student who taught the book.

“I don’t think I was thinking about race before (the book). I was thinking about grief, the concept of forgiveness, but not necessarily grace. The book is operating within a contradiction,” Tabor said. “In the second half, it’s about asking for forgiveness for writing the previous poems but if you really wanted to enact forgiveness, you just wouldn’t publish those poems.”

According to Burton, one of the most intimate poems of the book is titled “Giving Laura Grace.” The poem is dedicated to Turner and the unborn child she lost through her death. Throughout the writing process, Burton became close with the subjects of his writing through his research.

After starting the project, Burton learned his family also had a deep history with lynchings, continuing the bond between him and his writing.

“History will submit to you / I will too / Eventually when we are color-pleased / when your dirt speaks / I will be left / dumb-still / I won’t refer you back to life / There’s been enough of that / I falter / in guilt / at your reanimating / Now I am trying to unbeast you,” Burton said, reading his poem “For Mary Turner.”