A selection of Linton Kwesi Johnson's best poems over three decades. Ranging from protests against police brutality to eulogies for departed friends and playful celebrations of urban life, Johnson's use of Jamaican dialect to tackle distinctly British subjects contributed to a revolution in the notion of literary English. This Selected Poems charts the unique literary talent of one of Britain's most influential poets and social critics.
Now including an afterword and new poems by the author and an introduction by Gary Younge
Pioneering poet Linton Kwesi Johnson has revolutionized English literature with his electrifying fusion of oral verse, Jamaican speech, radical politics and reggae rhythms. This new edition of a vital selection of poems covers over four decades and includes classic early poems such as 'Inglan is a Bitch', 'New Craas Massakah' and 'Sonny's Lettah', as well as compelling recent work.
'Linton Kwesi Johnson's impact on the cultural landscape over the last half-century has been colossal and multi-generational . . . His political ferocity and his tireless scrutiny of history are truly Pinteresque, as is the humour with which he pursues them' Guardian
'A warrior wordsmith whose couplets take no prisoners' The Times
'Linton Kwesi Johnson's body of work - the sheer length, breadth, depth, politics, performance, rhyme and reason of it - bears witness to a lifetime of lending lyrical form to a condition that Britain has proved unable or unwilling (or both) to name' Gary Younge
