Volcano Verses

Howard Fergus

ISBN 10: 1900715791 / ISBN 13: 9781900715799

Published by Peepal Tree Press Ltd, GB, 2005

About this Item

Howard Fergus is amongst a very small minority of Montserratians. He lives in Montserrat. Emigration has taken generations away and the 1997 eruption of Soufrière destroyed two-thirds of its habitable space, its economy and drove the majority of its inhabitants into exile. The poems in Volcano Verses express the confidence that island life and folk will outlast volcanic tantrums, that though 'Tonight Chances pique still grows/.But cattle low and egrets ride/ Inspite of fire from mountain tides'. But what Fergus seems to be doing in the book is writing against the absences, writing into being again the people who have gone, the landscape utterly transformed, the society fragmented. The eruption has instigated the sternest truth-telling, the sense of a world purified, but it has also prompted a hugely heightened consciousness of the importance of the seemingly trivial, the myriad social interactions, the sounds, the smells of a literally vanished world. It is the very absences, the restriction of current possibility that drives Fergus to greater abundance of creation, in the conversational, muscular rhythms, the serious word-play that characterise his most mature and distinctive collection yet.Sir Howard Fergus was born in Montserrat. He is the author of three previous collections of poetry: Cotton Rhymes (1976), Green Innocence (1978) and Stop the Carnival (1980).

Seller Inventory # LU-9781900715799

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Volcano Verses
• Publisher: Peepal Tree Press Ltd, GB
• Publication Date: 2005
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1900715791
• ISBN 13: 9781900715799
• Binding: Paperback
• Condition: New
• Weight: 135 grams

About this title

Synopsis

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.

About the Author

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.