Poetry
I is a Long Memoried Woman
Grace Nichols · 1983
Synopsis
A poetic cycle in five parts in which an anonymous enslaved African woman speaks. It opens with the crossing of the Atlantic, then follows her life on the new continent: the cruelty of labour, the body taken by the master, the mind and soul put to the test, the memory of Africa and of those there who lent a hand to the slave trade, and the strengths she finds within herself to endure and resist.
Context
The first collection by its author, it appeared in London in 1983 from Karnak House, a few years after her arrival in England, and was immediately awarded a prize. The language takes on a rhythm that has been compared to the spirituals sung by slaves. The book has been adapted for film, a film that won an award at the New York International Film and Television Festival, and then for radio by the BBC. Recent studies read the slave's body in it as a site of resistance.
Who it is for
Short poems forming a continuous sequence, in English, not translated into French; the collection can be read in one sitting, in order.
Prizes and reception
Commonwealth Poetry Prize in 1983; its poems have since appeared on British examination syllabuses.
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