Pamela Mordecai Knihy

The collection showcases Pamela Mordecai's diverse poetic journey over thirty years, featuring themes of rebellion and innovation. It includes her early work, poignant elegies, and subversive sonnets that narrate the experiences of freed slaves. Mordecai's unique style blends Jamaican Creole with English, infusing her verses with elements of oral tradition and musicality. Her powerful language confronts neo-colonial violence and patriarchy, emphasizing solidarity among women and the strength found in shared experiences.

Exploring the complexities of identity and human experience, the poems delve into themes of love, sisterhood, and the nuances of sanity. Through a unique creole soundscape, the author challenges stereotypes and navigates the intersections of race and culture. The collection invites readers to uncover deeper truths that lie beneath surface ideals, reflecting on both personal and collective madnesses in a compelling and thought-provoking manner.

Telling stories of ordinary lives with extraordinary skill, Pamela Mordecai draws delicately detailed portraits of life in Jamaica and other islands, with occasional trips to Canada. Her characters speak with the cadences of the Caribbean, and cope with the universal experiences of birth and death, joy and betrayal. In "Hartstone High," a group of girls learn the high price of education; in "Alvin's Ilk," a self-centred teenaged boy comes to see his elderly neighbour in a whole new way; and in "Shining Waters," a young priest's plans for his new parish go horribly awry.

Build on infant foundations to develop the reading and language skills needed by 7 to 11 year olds in Books 1-4, and consolidate and reinforce these skills with Book 5 for the final year of Primary School.