Volcano Verses Format: Paperback

This poetic diary deals with the rebuilding of the island of Montserrat after its near destruction by a volcanic eruption in 1997. The poems express confidence that island life and folk will endure the volcano’s tantrums. Expressed are the feelings about the people who have gone, the landscape that has been transformed, and the society that has been fragmented. The seemingly trivial, the myriad social interactions, the sounds, and the smells of a vanished world are evoked. Conversational, muscular rhythms and serious word play characterize this mature and distinctive collection.

Howard Fergus is a senior lecturer at the University of the West Indies. He has been Speaker of the Montserrat Legislative Council since 1974. He is the author of Montserrat: Emerald Isle of the Caribbean and the coeditor of Hugo Versus Montserrat. He is the author of numerous collections of poetry, including Cotton Rhymes, Green Innocence, Stop the Carnival, Lara Rains and Colonial Rights, and Volcano Song.