Out of Bounds: British Black and Asian Poets

Citation

Kay J, Procter J & Robinson G (eds.) (2012) Out of Bounds: British Black and Asian Poets. Newcastle / Bloodaxe Poetry Series, 11. Tarset: Bloodaxe Books Ltd. http://www.bloodaxebooks.com/titlepage.asp?isbn=1852249293

Abstract
Back Cover: From Aberdeen to the Isle of Wight,Out of Bounds is a newly charted map of Britain as viewed by its black and Asian poets. It takes the reader on a riveting, sensory journey through Scotland, England and Wales, showing the whole country from a fresh perspective. This extensive and ground-breaking anthology – with its sudden forks in the road, and its roads not taken – stops off in the Highlands and Islands, skirts the North East coast from Whitley Bay to the sands of Bridlington, wanders lonely through the Lake District and Yorkshire, climbs the mountains of Wales before descending to the Black Country and Southern England. Along the way it takes in lochs and landmarks from Glasgow’s George Square and the Angel of the North to the London Eye and the Long Man of Wilmington. An alternative A to Z of the nation, a new poetic guide, the book enables us to look again at the UK’s local and regional landscapes and the poets who pass through them. Out of Bounds is a definitive anthology that brings together new and established black and Asian writers and places them firmly on the map of what is great and not so great about Britain.    'The most comprehensive gathering of Black and Asian British poets in any single volume, and in this the editors have done a great service. ... For all the amazing work…what impresses most is the monumental accomplishment of the editors…they found a thematic focus that would be broad enough to allow for comprehension and representation, and narrow enough to make our reading discoveries fresh.' (Kwame Dawes, Poetry Review)  'A worthy addition to the bulging shelves of Bloodaxe anthologies...here are poems that  have overturned hierarchies and presumptions.’ (Michael Horovitz, The Independent)  'This book really redraws the map of Britain: away with taxonomies of hurt – welcome cartographies of worth’ – Fred D’Aguiar  'This is a stunning anthology, every page yielding thought-provoking poetry that is immediate and direct...this superb, relevant, topical, crucial, important anthology should be in every secondary school and sixth-form library.' - Frank Startup, The School Librarian  Includes: Shanta Acharya, John Agard, Patience Agbabi, Moniza Alvi, James Berry, Kamau Brathwaite, Jean 'Binta' Breeze, Vahni Capildeo, Kayo Chingonyi, Maya Chowdhry, Merle Collins, David Dabydeen, Fred D'Aguiar, Kwame Dawes, Imtiaz Dharker, Bernardine Evaristo, Lorna Goodison, Maggie Harris, Khadijah Ibrahiim, Linton Kwesi Johnson, Anthony Joseph, Jackie Kay, Tariq Latif, Sheree Mack, Jack Mapanje, E.A. Markham, Raman Mundair, Daljit Nagra, Grace Nichols, Louisa Adjoa Parker, Roger Robinson, Michelle Scally-Clarke, Seni Seneviratne, John Siddique, Lemn Sissay, Dorothea Smartt, Wole Soyinka, Kimberly Trusty, Derek Walcott, Benjamin Zephaniah, and many others.  http://www.bloodaxebooks.com/titlepage.asp?isbn=1852249293

Keywords
Poetry; black British; Asian; place poems; Scotland; Wales; England

People

Dr Gemma Robinson

Senior Lecturer, English Studies