Oracabessa
"Oracabessa" is a book of risky journeys, mappings and re-mappings, as the poet navigates place, history and imagination. Goodison travels to Spain and Portugal, to Canada ("Winter has landed") and back to the Hope Gardens of her childhood in Jamaica; even to the Old Testament world of Ruth and Hagar. Throughout her journeys she hymns the artists who inspire her: El Greco, John Donne, Billie Holiday, "Miles Marley Mozart". At the end of travel, she is, as she says, "Still on the road to Heartease".
About the author
Lorna Goodison was born in Jamaica, and has won numerous awards for her writing in both poetry and prose, including the Commonwealth Poetry Prize, the Musgrave Gold Medal from Jamaica, the Henry Russel Award for Exceptional Creative Work from the University of Michigan, and one of Canada's largest literary prizes, the British Columbia National Award for Canadian Non-Fiction for "From Harvey River: A Memoir of My Mother and Her People" (2007). Her work has been included in the major anthologies and collections of contemporary poetry over the past twenty-five years, such as the "Norton Anthology of Modern and Contemporary Poetry", the HarperCollins "World Reader, the Vintage Book of Contemporary World Poetry", the "Norton Anthology of World Masterpieces", and Longman "Masters of British Literature".
Along with her award winning memoir, she has published three collections of short stories (including "By Love Possessed", 2011) and nine collections of poetry.
Her work has been translated into many languages, and she has been a central figure at literary festivals throughout the world. Lorna Goodison teaches at the University of Michigan, where she is the Lemuel A. Johnson Professor of English and African and Afroamerican Studies.
Along with her award winning memoir, she has published three collections of short stories (including "By Love Possessed", 2011) and nine collections of poetry.
Her work has been translated into many languages, and she has been a central figure at literary festivals throughout the world. Lorna Goodison teaches at the University of Michigan, where she is the Lemuel A. Johnson Professor of English and African and Afroamerican Studies.
Reviews
"What is the rare quality that has gone out of poetry that these marvellous poems restore? Joy" – Derek Walcott