A Universe Inside Us: Decolonial Worldmaking in Samantha Thornhill’s “The Animated Universe”

Thornhill gives readers the language to think about a myriad of intimate and infinite moments that cluster our lives, and ultimately, assure us that we are our own universe.

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One of Thornhill’s greatest strengths lies in her ability to conceal her speakers’ motives while forging stories of ownership and calls to action. Her carefulness of language, hidden messages, and oral style evokes diasporic traditions of insurrection from the plantation to thereafter, and in doing so, offer an idea about what freedom can mean or look like from within.

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This debut collection reflects Thornhill’s voice as a seasoned writer, spoken word artist, and performer, as she seamlessly positions herself in a tradition of decolonial worldmaking. Using her poetry to participate in creative theoretic approaches to Black freedom struggles, she evokes introspection while exploring the complexities of identity and belonging for African peoples across the Caribbean diaspora. The Animated Universe becomes a poetic cartography navigating us towards a formation of freedom that reminds us of the divine power within.