Jean &;Binta&; Breeze was a popular Jamaican Dub poet and storyteller
whose performances wee so powerful she was called a &;one-woman
festival&;. Her poems are Caribbean songs of innocence and experience, of
love and conflict. They use personal stories and historical narratives
to explore social injustice and the psychological dimensions of black
women&;s experience. Striking evocations of childhood in the hills of
Jamaica give way to explorations of the perils and delights of growth
and change &; through sex, emigration, motherhood and age.
Introduced by renowned critic Colin MacCabe, the book brings together
new poems with poetry and reggae chants from four previous collections: Riddym Ravings, Spring Cleaning, On the Edge of an Island and The Arrival of Brighteye.
Many of the poems are included on the accompanying DVD featuring two
Jean &;Binta&; Breeze performances filmed by Pamela Robertson-Pearce at
Leicester&;s Y Theatre, plus an interview with Jane Dowson.