A Review of Volcano

This slim volume calls itself a memoir of a woman whose life was affected by the volcanic eruption of Montserrat’s Soufrière in 1995.  Weekes was born in London of Montserratian parentage and she grew up there and in Montserrat.

She describes herself as writer, performance poet, actor and educator, and all these identities take turns at directing this intensely personal narrative.

Sonnets for Anthony Joseph

 

In Gaza or My Li'l House

By Linda M. Deane and Brian Franklin

The 2024 IndyList

 

THE INDYLIST is coming bigger than ever this year.

An Excerpt from The House that Disappeared

 

Chapter Fifteen

The doorbell rang at seven, making him jump. He and Rambo went to the door. Ms Jones stood on the doorstep under the light of the portico. She had cut her hair. It was frizzed out in wild curls. Slightly more black than usual. Mr Smith stared open-mouthed at her. She was the epitome of gorgeousness.

Peter Laurie 2022 Frank Collymore Literary Award Winner

2022 Frank Collymore Literary Award winner Peter Laurie. Photo Copyright © 2023 by Peter Laurie.


Adapted from centralbank.org.bb. Peter Laurie Took Home the $10,000 First Prize at the 25th FCLE Awards

A Review of What a Mother's Love Don't Teach You

IN HER DEBUT NOVEL, What a Mother’s Love Don’t Teach You (Virago, 2022), Jamaican author Sharma Taylor explores life in the poverty-stricken area of Lazarus Gardens, going beyond the poverty and violence to reveal characters with dreams, aspirations and disappointments that speak to their humanity in the midst of chaos, corruption and danger.

Two Poems from Girl Before Country

 

Blind Date

My Black
and my Caribbean
walk into a room
and the air is
still

My Black breaks the silence first
and says: "Wassup, where you from, fam?"
to root itself in the present
where it has made a home for itself
in places meant to be its hell

Tasha's Cou-Cou, An Excerpt from CircleSquare

A spot of indigestion, anyone?  Illustration Copyright © 2023 by Akaila Armstrong.

 

DAVID PLACED two small scoops of cou-cou on Tasha’s plate with two slices of sweet potato, some salt-fish gravy and cucumber salad. Then he dished out his portion and started to eat.

Three Poems

The True, True Mudda Sally.  Illustration Copyright © 2023 by Akaila Armstrong.

 

Love in the Time of Circular Chants 

Chant A Psalm A Day… Chant A Psalm A Day…
Chant A Psalm A Day…
An undulating Steel Pulse hosanna

That’s how a Chewa man— 
his ebony courting hands, soft-pressing 
vinyl onto record player, evoked 
a bell and bass reggae of rejoicing 

Ghosts of Petticoats (A Dramatic Monologue)

 

IN 1816 Nanny Grigg and a group of other women, alongside Bussa in Barbados, took up arms to fight for their freedom. On 14-16 April, 1816, Bussa led the largest uprising for freedom by enslaved people in Barbadian history. Although not much is known about Nanny it is reported that she was valued at 130.00 pounds and worked on Simmons Plantation. Nanny was able to read and write and told her fellow slaves that they had to fight for their freedom. 

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