The Heinemann Book of Caribbean Poetry

by Ian McDonald (Editor), Stewart Brown (Editor)

West Indians, as Ian McDonald comments, "write poetry as well as they play cricket" and Heinemann's anthology is the most comprehensive and up-to-date selection of contemporary Caribbean poetry, including major names like Derek Walcott, John Agard, and Merle Collins, alongside new poets of the region. This collection is an invaluable academic selection and will provide a fine introduction for the general reader interested in the lyricism of Caribbean poetry.

Genres: Poetry, 20th Century

256 pages, Paperback

First published October 5, 1992

About the author

Ian McDonald was born on 18 April 1933, in St Augustine, Trinidad.
He came to the then British Guiana in 1955 with the Booker Group of Companies. He has lived and worked in Guyana ever since. He spent a long career in the sugar industry.
He wrote poems, short stories, a novel "The Humming-Bird Tree" (1969), and an one-act play, "The Tramping Man" (1969).

Reviews

[for-much-deliberation ... · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book featuring some of the caribbean's best poets...

[Stella Marie · Rating 3 out of 5]

as with all poetry books i read, i didn't read it all. but my favourite poems were:

fantasy of an african boy - james berry
coolie son (the toilet attendant writes home) - david dabydeen
jamaican small gal - a. l. hendriks

[Greg H · Rating 4 out of 5]

Vibrant, hypnotic, and engaging - I'll soon be reading more poetry. This was a well put together collection of diverse poems but I think they really saved the best til last with Derek Walcott's epic "The Hotel Normandie Pool". There were gems throughout and I thoroughly enjoyed it, but the one way I think the book could've been improved is by having the biographical notes introduce each poet in their respective section, rather than being collated at the end.

[Graeme · Rating 3 out of 5]

As you'd expect from an anthology, this is a bit of a mixed bag. Really loved stuff from Jean Binta Breeze, Cecil Grey and the incredible Derek Walcott, among others. It's a bit long in the tooth, this book, now. Would be lovely to see an updated version with more contributors born in the 60s, 70s and dare I say it -- 80s. But some real gems to be found here.