First published in Great Britain in 2007 by

Carcanet Press Limited

Alliance House Cross Street Manchester M2 7AQ

Selection and introduction copyright © Kei Miller 2007

The right of Kei Miller to be identified as the editor of this work has been asserted by him in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act of 1988

All rights reserved.

Poems by Marilène Phipps-Kettlewell © Marilène Phipps-Kettlewell 2007. ‘Croaker’, ‘The Watertank Revisited’, ‘A Question of Love’, ‘The fever with which she danced’, ‘That Sunday Morning’ are from The Watertank Revisited by Delores Gauntlett © Delores Gauntlett 2005. Reprinted by permission of Peepal Tree Press. Other poems by

Delores Gauntlett © Delores Gauntlett 2007. Poems by Christian Campbell © Christian Campbell 2007. Poems by Loretta Collins Klobah © Loretta Collins Klobah 2007. ‘Now the Guitar Begins’ is from Song of Thieves by Shara McCallum © 2003. Reprinted by permission of the University of Pittsburgh Press. ‘What I’m Telling You’, ‘jack mandoora me no choose none’ (sections 3 and 4), ‘The tragedy of the mermaid’, ‘What the Oracle Said’,

and ‘Dove’ are from The Water Between Us by Shara McCallum © 1999. Reprinted by permission of the University of Pittsburgh Press. Poems by Tanya Shirley © Tanya Shirley 2007.

Poems by Ian Strachan © Ian Strachan 2007.

‘The Felling of a Tree’ and ‘Song’ are from Between the Fence and the Forest by Jennifer Rahim © Jennifer Rahim 1999. Reprinted by permission of Peepal Tree Press. Other poems by Jennifer Rahim © Jennifer Rahim 2007.

The right of each individual poet to be identified as the author of his or her work has been asserted by him or her in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act of 1988

All rights reserved.

A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library

ISBN 978 1 85754 941 6

The publisher acknowledges financial assistance from Arts Council England

Typeset by XL Publishing Services, Tiverton Printed and bound in England by SRP Ltd, Exeter