Redemption Ground: Essays and Adventures

Lorna Goodison

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In her first-ever collection of essays, poet and novelist Lorna Goodison interweaves the personal and political to explore themes that have occupied her working life: her love of poetry and the arts, colonialism and its legacy, racism and social justice, authenticity, and the enduring power of friendship. Taking her title from one of Kingston's oldest markets, a historic meeting place that was almost destroyed by fire, she introduces us to a vivid cast of characters and remembers moments of epiphany--in a cinema in Jamaica, at New York's Bottom Line club, and as she searched for a black hairdresser in Paris and drank tea in London's Marylebone High Street. Enlightening and entertaining, these essays explore not only daily challenges but also the compassion that enables us to rise above them. Goodison's poet's eye, profound vision and glorious combination of metaphysical and post-colonial sensibilities confirm her as a major figure in world literature.

Book Details

Publisher: Myriad Editions
Publish Date: Jan 15th, 2019
Pages: 176
Language: English
Edition: undefined - undefined
Dimensions: 7.70in - 5.10in - 0.60in - 0.40lb
EAN: 9781912408139
Categories: • Women Authors• Literary Figures• Essays

About the Author

Goodison, Lorna: - Lorna Goodison is the Poet Laureate of Jamaica and a major figure in world literature. She is the author of nine collections of poetry, three collections of short stories and an award-winning memoir, From Harvey River: A Memoir of My Mother and Her People. Her Collected Poems was published in 2017. Redemption Ground: Essays and Adventures is her first collection of essays and was published by Myriad in August 2018. Her many awards include the Commonwealth Poetry Prize, the Musgrave Gold Medal from Jamaica and the Windham Campbell Literature Prize. Her work is included in major anthologies of contemporary poetry and has been translated into many languages. She is a central figure at literary festivals throughout the world. Born in Jamaica, Lorna Goodison now lives in Canada. She is Professor Emerita at the University of Michigan, where she was the Lemuel A. Johnson Professor of English and African and Afroamerican Studies. She was appointed Poet Laureate of Jamaica in 2017, a position she held until 2020.

Praise for this book

'The chapters on specific writers reminded me of my favourite lectures from university, when someone fascinating gently opened a door on new literature and walked through it with me. Goodison does this over and over again throughout Redemption Ground - an excellent read in its own right that also acts as a gateway to more books, poems and writers.' - EC Reads, Bookstagrammer and bookseller

'I have rarely enjoyed a collection of essays this much. Brimming with poetry, Lorna has put together a collection that transcends her personal life and reflects the current and past state of race relations, that speaks to the intersectionality of Black women's experiences, and that examines the legacies of our collective past. A masterpiece. A must-read.' - Literandra

'To read this selection of essays is to be given a detailed glimpse into (Lorna's) life and its many adventures and encounters. It was such an enjoyable reading experience.' - Reads and Reveries, Bookstagrammer

'Redemption Ground's blend of memoir, sharp cultural commentary and ruminations on Goodison's muses, literary and otherwise... builds a picture of the influences and experiences that make a great writer as she gradually pieces together the fragments that formed her life as a boundary-breaking, troublemaking poet.' - Wasafiri magazine

'Lorna Goodison writes lyrically and decisively. Redemption Ground absolutely blew me away... it is quite extraordinary, like an arrow in the heart.' - Jo Good, BBC Radio London

'A beautiful book... absolutely splendid.' - Jenni Murray, Woman's Hour, BBC Radio 4

'I am in awe of Lorna Goodison's myriad talents - award-winning poet, memoirist, writer of short stories as well as sensuous visual artist, she is here revealed as a consummate essayist. In Redemption Ground all her skills shine bright - no pomp, no fuss, just magic.' - Margaret Busby