The collection is about public occurrences, many of which the reader will recognise, but it is also about private happenings and quiet reflection on some sensitive matters. The employment of allusion and metaphor is noteworthy, and the enlisting of historical and religious reference (as in Fergus' "Out of Nowhere" and Weekes' "Good Friday") helps to contextualise some of the themes of the collection, such as isolation and preservation; but these devices also serve as signifiers of promise/hope, weaving a contrapuntal thread ...
Read More
The collection is about public occurrences, many of which the reader will recognise, but it is also about private happenings and quiet reflection on some sensitive matters. The employment of allusion and metaphor is noteworthy, and the enlisting of historical and religious reference (as in Fergus' "Out of Nowhere" and Weekes' "Good Friday") helps to contextualise some of the themes of the collection, such as isolation and preservation; but these devices also serve as signifiers of promise/hope, weaving a contrapuntal thread that embellishes the work's rich texture. The authors use these and many other strategies to induce us to look beyond the event horizon of social etiquette, propriety, writer's privacy and then return to gauge our very own responses. Though the world has begun to understand that the region's most potent voices are those of its artists, fewer people are aware that much of the region's theorizing emanates from the creative work of its artists. So this collection is a deep-rooted intervention. I anticipate its use and application in a range of disciplines and subject areas, from literary studies to sociology, gender studies and psychology. Those who read this work will be coming to it with their own experiences, and a set of questions. When they are finished, they will have some questions addressed and expectations met. But beware, the work also poses some telling questions of its own to those readers who dare to read it and enter into dialogue with the poems, the authors, but also with themselves. A final question this collection evokes is: how is the poet able to comment real-time on frontier culture, especially when the whole world, the region, nation and the psyche are under pressure? Yes, treating contemporary and popular culture can be a particularly tricky, if rewarding undertaking. But it should be reiterated that the region's creative writers and performers are amongst its most proficient pop culture connoisseurs, and in that regard they share a somewhat similar space with the pop culture critic. If in this publication we are particularly intrigued to see our established poets respond contemporaneously, we are also keen to see how they have evolved since their most recent or seminal works. Have they further sharpened their already incisive tools of the trade? We read to see for ourselves where this collection fits within the arsenal of creative works by Sir Howard since his The Arrow Poems and Saturday Soup (2010) and Poems from Behind God Back (2011), and within the arc of interventions by Dr. Weekes ignited in such works as Madness (2004), Volcano(2006) and Nomad (2019). This is an unrelenting season. It has called forth this nuanced, telling but restorative work. (c) 2021 Curwen BestCurwen Best is Professor of Popular Culture, Literary and Cultural Studies, UWI, Cave Hill Campus, Barbados.
Read Less
