Selected Poems

<p><b>Now including an afterword and new poems by the author and an introduction by Gary Younge</b><br><br>Pioneering poet Linton Kwesi Johnson has revolutionized English literature with his electrifying fusion of oral verse, Jamaican speech, radical politics and reggae rhythms. This new edition of a vital selection of poems covers over four decades and includes classic early poems such as 'Inglan is a Bitch', 'New Craas Massakah' and 'Sonny's Lettah', as well as compelling recent work.<br><br>'Linton Kwesi Johnson's impact on the cultural landscape over the last half-century has been colossal and multi-generational . . . His political ferocity and his tireless scrutiny of history are truly Pinteresque, as is the humour with which he pursues them' <i>Guardian</i><br><br>'A warrior wordsmith whose couplets take no prisoners' <i>The Times</i><br><br>'Linton Kwesi Johnson's body of work - the sheer length, breadth, depth, politics, performance, rhyme and reason of it - bears witness to a lifetime of lending lyrical form to a condition that Britain has proved unable or unwilling (or both) to name' Gary Younge</p> <p><b>Now including an afterword and new poems by the author and an introduction by Gary Younge</b><br><br>Pioneering poet Linton Kwesi Johnson has revolutionized English literature with his electrifying fusion of oral verse, Jamaican speech, radical politics and reggae rhythms. This new edition of a vital selection of poems covers over four decades and includes classic early poems such as 'Inglan is a Bitch', 'New Craas Massakah' and 'Sonny's Lettah', as well as compelling recent work.<br><br>'Linton Kwesi Johnson's impact on the cultural landscape over the last half-century has been colossal and multi-generational . . . His political ferocity and his tireless scrutiny of history are truly Pinteresque, as is the humour with which he pursues them' <i>Guardian</i><br><br>'A warrior wordsmith whose couplets take no prisoners' <i>The Times</i><br><br>'Linton Kwesi Johnson's body of work - the sheer length, breadth, depth, politics, performance, rhyme and reason of it - bears witness to a lifetime of lending lyrical form to a condition that Britain has proved unable or unwilling (or both) to name' Gary Younge</p>