Certifiable

by Pamela Mordecai

Toronto writer Pamela Mordecai is a well-known voice in poetry of the Caribbean diaspora. She has long been a popular anthologist, a mentor to other writers, a frequent contributor to literary journals, and a vital link between the literary worlds of Canada and Jamaica; Certifiable presents a maturing vision of women's lives in both of her homes. Certifiable celebrates experience shot through with affection, family attachment, and madness. The poems in the first section, "Just a Likl Loving," explore the truths hidden beneath the ideal of love as comfort, love as currency, love as deathtrap. "Sister Sequence" embraces the fullness of sisterhood, from the conceptual "sister muse" as a power in the world to the ambivalent love among flesh-and-blood sisters. "Certifiable," the final section, springs from intimacy with little and big madnesses. The rhythms and rhymes of the creole soundscape crackle through Certifiable . Mordecai's deft hand wordplay flows through and beyond standard English and the Creole continuum to reveal the characters in Certifiable and record their experiences.

100 pages, Paperback

First published May 1, 2001

About the author

Pamela Mordecai was born in Jamaica. She has published five collections of poetry, five children's books, a book of short fiction, and a reference work on Jamaica (with her husband, Martin). She has also edited/coedited anthologies of Caribbean writing as well as numerous textbooks In 2010, her play, "El Numero Uno" had its world premiere at the Lorraine Kimsa Theatre for Young People in Toronto. Her poems have been shortlisted for the CBC Literary Award for Poetry and the Bridport Prize (UK). She is the recipient of The Institute of Jamaica’s Centenary Medal, Jamaica’s Vic Reid Award for Children’s Writing, and the Burla Award. Pamela lives in Kitchener.