by Martin Carter
The Guyanese poet Martin Carter (1927-97) was one of the foremost Caribbean writers of the 20th century. Twice imprisoned by the colonial government of British Guiana during the Emergency in the 1950s, he became a minister in Guyana's first independent government during the 60s, representing his country at the United Nations, but resigned in disillusionment after three years to live 'simply as a poet, remaining with the people'. He was one of the first Caribbean poets to write about slavery, Amerindian history and Indian Indentureship in relation to contemporary concerns. Wise, angry and hopeful, Carter's poetry voices a life lived in times of public and private crisis.
Gemma Robinson's helpfully annotated edition is the first Collected Poems of Martin Carter. The selected prose includes key essays on race, colonialism, political action and the role of the poet in a postcolonial society.
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