Lorna Gaye Goodison is one of the finest and most widely acclaimed of the many outstanding anglophone Caribbean women writers who have come to prominence since 1980. She is known chiefly for her poetry but has also published short stories. Her poetry has elicited enthusiastic response not only from critics but also from the general reader. She has been in regular demand to participate in symposia and to give readings of her work in the Caribbean, Europe, and North America. The appeal of her writing derives from her treatment of themes of gender, class, and race; from the eloquence with which she speaks for the ill-used and disadvantaged; from her blend of earthiness, humor, and spirituality; and from the way in which her poetic idiom combines contemporary Standard English, the traditional languages of religious devotion, and the resourcefulness of Jamaican speech. Her readings are enhanced by her impressive stage...