Explore Poetry
Not sure where to start? Who to listen to? What to read? The links below will help you - simply search below using names or key words to explore all our poetry recordings, texts, interviews and a huge range of other materials.
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Poet
Mark McWatt
B. 1947
Strands of autobiography, a deeply sensuous ecology of place, historical narratives; the inner world of imagination and the often difficult realities of the postcolonial nation are interwoven in McWatt's bold but carefully worked out architecture. Peepal Tree
Poet
Esther Phillips
B. 1950
I believe that in all diverse forms of artistic expression across all countries, there are some sensitivities in common. Esther Phillips
Poet
Poet
Kwame Dawes
B. 1962
Poets can learn a lot from the timing of the best comics: pacing, economy, judiciousness, silence, rhythm, reward.
Poet
Velma Pollard
B. 1937
Lord teach wings how/in the stark silence of these evenings/ in the fine chiselled rock spaces/ to fold and nest... - 'After Heartease New England', Velma Pollard
Poet
Tanya Shirley
B. 1976
I don't want to be one of those ivory tower writers; I want to affect people's lives.
Poet
Grace Nichols
B. 1950
Not only rich music, an easy lyricism, but also grit, and earthy honesty, a willingness to be vulnerable and clean. - Gwendolyn Brooks
Poet
John Agard
B. 1949
His poems are direct and arresting, playful, full of startling imagery, and are hilarious, passionate and erotic as often as they are political - often managing to be all these things at once - Maura Dooley
Poet
Poet
Linton Kwesi Johnson
B. 1952
...the popular music of Jamaica, the music of the people, is an essentially experiential music... the music reflects the historical experience. - Linton Kwesi Johnson
Poet
Edward Baugh
B. 1936
I would have words as tenacious as mules/ to bear us, sure-footed/ up the mountain of night... from 'Elemental' by Edward Baugh
Poet
Olive Senior
B. 1941
Poetry matters because it is a tool for helping us to discover who we are. As individuals, as Caribbean peoples, as citizens of the world. Olive Senior