The Critical Response to Kamau Brathwaite

(Hardback)

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Description

While Kamau Brathwaite is renown for his achievements as a world literary, historical, and cultural critic, his Anglophone Caribbean poetry is the cornerstone of his legacy. His critically acclaimed trilogy, The Arrivants, which is composed of the individual volumes, Rights of Passage, Masks, and Islands is analyzed along with many other poetic works. Also discussed within are his innovative and highly original literary techniques which have evolved during over forty years as a poet. This book is a collection of selected critical responses to volumes of Brathwaite's poetry written from the 1960s to 2000s. Organized by decades, it includes book reviews, articles, essays, and personal reflections. Also included is a recent interview with Brathwaite conducted by Williams in 2002. In this interview, Brathwaite has the opportunity to address his critics as he responds to his work holistically as well as specific volumes of his poetry and stylistic innovations. Anyone interested in Brathwaite's poetry will truly enjoy this work.

Reviews

Born in Barbados in 1930, Lawson Edward Kamau Brathwaite has produced more than 20 volumes of poetry in the last 40 years. This entry in the "Critical Responses" series is the first devoted entirely to the collection and analysis of critical reactions to Brathwaite's poetry. Williams offers a selection of perceptive essays divided by decade (1960-2000) and written by numerous critics, covering Braithwaite's principal works. Topics of imagery, vocabulary, musicality, nature, travel, exile, African heritage, and magical realism are addressed. The volume also includes an introduction, a chronology, a chapter titled "Reflections of a Life," and Williams's insightful interview with Brathwaite....Essential. All collections supporting Caribbean literature, history, and culture; all levels.-Choice
"Born in Barbados in 1930, Lawson Edward Kamau Brathwaite has produced more than 20 volumes of poetry in the last 40 years. This entry in the "Critical Responses" series is the first devoted entirely to the collection and analysis of critical reactions to Brathwaite's poetry. Williams offers a selection of perceptive essays divided by decade (1960-2000) and written by numerous critics, covering Braithwaite's principal works. Topics of imagery, vocabulary, musicality, nature, travel, exile, African heritage, and magical realism are addressed. The volume also includes an introduction, a chronology, a chapter titled "Reflections of a Life," and Williams's insightful interview with Brathwaite....Essential. All collections supporting Caribbean literature, history, and culture; all levels."-Choice

Author Bio

EMILY ALLEN WILLIAMS is Associate Professor in the Department of English, Morehouse College. She is also the author of Anglophone Caribbean Poetry, 1970-2001: An Annotated Bibliography (Praeger, 2002).