E.A. Markham's iconic anthology "Hinterland" opened up new territory for many readers, with its substantial selections by 14 key poets with photos, interviews, essays by the poets themselves. It became a set text for the Open University and at many universities and colleges in Britain and the Caribbean. Since Markham compiled his selection over 30 years ago, the work of the poets he documents has become even more important, historically significant and highly influential. The poets featured in depth are Derek Walcott, Martin Carter, Louise Bennett, Kamau Brathwaite, Dennis Scott, James Berry, Mervyn Morris, E.A. Markham, Olive Senior, Grace Nichols, Lorna Goodison, Fred D'Aguiar, Michael Smith and Linton Kwesi Johnson.
'The product largely of offshore islands Jamaica, Trinidad, Britain, etc (Guyana being the exception) West Indian poetry in English has often been located on the fringes of the central experience. Its popularity is widely associated with local colour, linguistic and tonal innovation, thought to be lacking in the English "mainstream". This collection shows that the most vital and challenging poetry of the British Caribbean heritage is both local in its urgency and informed by a hinterland of experience deeper than the geography of the islands' politics.' E.A. Markham, writing in 1989
About the Author :
E.A. Markham (1939-2008) had a career that embraced the range of literary life, and more. Aside from his poetry, for which he was shortlisted for the T.S. Eliot Prize in 2002, he wrote novels, essays, plays and short stories; he edited anthologies including Hugo versus Montserrat, which dealt with the aftermath in Montserrat of a devastating hurricane, and Hinterland (Bloodaxe Books, 1989), a key poetry collection in many university courses; he directed the Caribbean Theatre Workshop, was the government's Media Co-ordinator in Papua New Guinea and built houses in France. He held lectureships and fellowships at universities around the UK, including Professor of Creative Writing at Sheffield Hallam University, from where he established the MA in Writing, edited Sheffield Thursday magazine and directed the Hallam Literature Festival. Markham was awarded the Certificate of Honour by the Government of Montserrat in 1997. His poetry and fiction are published by Anvil Press and Peepal Tree.
Review :
E.A. Markham’s anthology of Caribbean poetry in English should be ordered at once by all those who go by the title “Head of English”. Failure to do so should be punished by the application of a rolled-up copy of Kes to the appropriate orifice. It may be that Markham has schools and colleges, as well as the general reader, in mind for Hinterland; its long, source-giving introduction, numerous photographs and autobiographical essays by all 14 poets give this anthology a vitality and depth echoed fully in the generous selection.
