Redemption Ground: Essays and Adventures

(Paperback)

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This enlightening, entertaining, profoundly political and poetic gathering of essays by the Poet Laureate of Jamaica covers a wealth of subjects, from the odd dissociation of a colonial education to the reality of life in the wider world, the singing of hymns in school and the way their words stay with us, to the many influences--music, art, storytelling, theatre, cinema, travel, religion, family life and politics--that nurture our imaginations and her own writing voice. Taking her title from Kingston's oldest market and downtown meeting place that was almost destroyed by fire last year, Lorna Goodison introduces us to an extraordinary cast of characters and range of influences--from finding a black hairdresser in Paris and crying at a movie in Jamaica to having a life-changing epiphany in New York's Bottom Line Club or drinking tea with an old friend and new strangers in London's Marylebone High Street.

Reviews

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 womens 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 Grounds blend of memoir, sharp cultural commentary and ruminations on Goodisons 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, Womans Hour, BBC Radio 4

Author Bio

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 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 will hold until 2020.