Caribbean poetry (often used synonymously for West Indian poetry) comprises any form of poem, rhyme, or lyric that derives from the Caribbean region and writers of the Caribbean diaspora. Particularly after the mid-1970s and 1980s, Caribbean poetry gained increasing visibility with the publication in Britain and North America of several anthologies; over the years the canon has shifted and expanded, drawing both on oral and literary traditions, and with different styles evolving in response to the changing social and political scene.
Contents
- Some notable Caribbean poets
- Anguilla
- Barbados
- Cuba
- Dominican Republic
- Guyana
- Haiti
- Jamaica
- Martinique
- Montserrat
- Puerto Rico
- St Lucia
- St Martin
- The Bahamas
- Trinidad Tobago
- References
Caribbean poets include Derek Walcott, winner of the 1992 Nobel Prize for Literature, Kamau Brathwaite, International Winner of the Sixth Annual Griffin Poetry Prize in 2006, and Jamaican-born Linton Kwesi Johnson, who in 2002 became only the second living poet to be published in the Penguin Modern Classics series.
Anthony Kellman, from Barbados, is the originator of the Caribbean poetic form Tuk Verse, which incorporates melodical and rhythmical elements of Barbadian indigenous folk music called Tuk. His 2008 book Limestone: An Epic Poem of Barbados is the first published epic poem of Barbados.
Some notable Caribbean poets
Grouped by territory of birth or upbringing.