African Diaspora at Internet Archive: Say It Again, Granny!

It's back to the Caribbean this week, starting off with the remarkable John Agard: he's an Afro-Guyanese writer and poet now based in the U.K.; you can read about his life and career at Wikipedia.

The book I want to start with is this beautiful collection of children's poetry inspired by Caribbean proverbs: Say It Again, Granny! 

The lovely illustrations are by Susanna Gretz, an American children's book illustrator; here are two poems (click on the images for a larger view): Don't Call Alligator Long-Mouth Till You Cross River and Early Bird Does Catch the Fattest Worm:

I really like the idea of using proverbs as an inspiration for writing poetry! 

I also wanted to say something about this fun book by Agard: The Calypso Alphabet.

The illustrations here are by Jennifer Bent, and of course A has to be for Anansi!

And if you're not sure where Guyana is, here's a map to help out, and youc an find out more about Guyana (formerly British Guiana) at Wikipedia.

I'll be back with more from John Agard tomorrow! Meanwhile, these books both await you, just a click away at the Internet Archive:

Say It Again, Granny! 

by John Agard

The Calypso Alphabet

by John Agard