Reviews for The Chilswell book of English poetry

The average rating for The Chilswell book of English poetry based on 2 reviews is 3.5 stars.

Review # 1 was written on 2014-12-29 00:00:00 Samuel Post If you think the American incarceration rate is high, you're right (the world's highest by country), but it's nothing next to that of African poets. I once had the pleasure and the privilege of attending the Poetry Africa Festival in Durban, South Africa, where well over half of the male African poets had been imprisoned for their work at one time or another, some for years on end. One of these was Jack Mapanje, a Malawian poet and theoretical linguist, whose first collection of poems was banned in Malawi and landed him in Mikuyu Maximum Detention Centre for more than three-and-a-half years. No charges were brought against him. The Chattering Wagtails... collects poems written during and about this time. With uncommon strength and bravery, they detail the appalling dehumanization and small triumphs that comprised the daily life of political prisoners at Mikuyu. Mapanje was an ebullient joy to meet and talk with after his reading, and my signed copy of "The Chattering Wagtails of Mikuyu Prison" is one of the treasures of my poetry collection. (Quoted from #SmallBooksMonth )

Review # 2 was written on 2009-03-03 00:00:00 Tom Bassow A collection of intriguing and gruesome poetry on oppression and being locked up in prison for standing up for your rights especially in African countries. A lot of the poems are intricate and require great patience and concentration to understand and comprehend the poems.