50books_poc | 2.9 Ranters, Ravers and Rhymers: Poems by Black and Asian Poets, Ed. Farrukh Dhondy (1990) (Reply)

2.9 Ranters, Ravers and Rhymers: Poems by Black and Asian Poets, Ed. Farrukh Dhondy (1990)

The collection is divided into sections - Black Britain, the Caribbean, India and Africa. There are recurring themes - identity and power in society.

I liked the collection in some ways, but I found it frustrating. It was clearly designed as a introduction - Dhondy says he aimed it at teenagers. But it lacks basic information that an introductory text needs - the date of publication of the poems, some information about the poets, maybe some annotations because there are references to political events of the 1970s and 80s that I have no idea about.

I also struggled with some of the dialect poems, especially the Caribbean ones. I found the Indian section easier as they are written in standard English. My eye just flows along the lines rather than having to puzzle out what each word means, leading to a very disjointed reading experience.

Naturally, the issue of language is one that the poets address. Eunice De Souza says in "Encounter at a London Party":

You are young and perhaps forgetful
that the Empire lives
only in the pure vowel sounds I offer you
above the din.