Reviewed Work: Talk Yuh Talk: Interviews with Anglophone Caribbean Poets by Kwame Dawes

Excerpt

Poet and musician Kwame Dawes is the author of several poetry books and two works of nonfiction. In Talk Yuh Talk, his most recent publication, he embarks on a new literary venture, conducting a series of eighteen interviews with poets from the English-speaking Caribbean. He interviews writers spanning several generations, offering a wide range of insight into the development of Caribbean poetic form. These poets include older literary figures like Martin Carter (b. 1927) in addition to newer voices such as Grace Nicols (b. 1950). His project, Dawes ex- plains, is shaped by the premise that Caribbean poetry has developed its own set of literary traditions, providing a non- European context in which works can be evaluated beyond the bounds of post- colonial analysis. Consequently, the governing focus of his questions is the exploration of the poets' primary influences.