Donna Hemans's River Woman (2002) tells a story about a young mother who waits at the riverside for her own mother to return to her as promised. She does not notice that her own child has wandered into the water until it is too late, and she then has to face some of her worst fears as the women in her village accuse her of drowning her child on purpose.

From Behind the Counter: Poems from a Rural Jamaican Experience (1999) offers readers another view of life in traditional Jamaica. The poet is Easton Lee, a man who grew up holding a pivotal position in his small village: he was the clerk of his father's grocery shop. Lee has a mixed ethnic background, with substantial Chinese ancestry.

Kwame Dawes edited a collection of interviews with Caribbean poets, including Goodison, called Talk Yuh...