Family Album (a collection of poetry), and lA Drift of Many-Hued Poppies in the Pale Wheatfield of British Publishing': Black British Women Poets 1978 - 2008 Sheree Mack A thesis submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements of Newcastle University for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy February 2010 NEWCASTLE UNIVERSITY LIBRARY ---------------------------- 208 30279 h Contents Abstract Acknowledgements Family Album, a collection of poetry 1 The Voice of the Draft 49 Dissertation: 'A Drift of Many-Hued Poppies in the Pale Wheatfield of 54 British Publishing': Black British Women Poets 1978 - 2008 Introduction 55 Linking Piece: 'she tries her tongue' 1 72 Chapter One: Introducing Black Women Writers to Britain 76 Linking Piece: 'she tries her tongue' 2 102 Chapter Two: Black Women Insist On Their Own Space 105 Linking Piece: 'she tries her tongue' 3 148 Chapter Three: Medusa Black, Red, White and Blue 151 The Voice of the Tradition 183 Chapter Four: Conclusion 189 Linking Piece: 'she tries her tongue' 4 194 Select Bibliography 197 Abstract The thesis comprises a collection of poems, a dissertation and a series of linking pieces. Family Album is a portfolio of poems concerning the themes of genealogy, history and family. It also explores the use of devices such as voice, the visual, the body and place as an exploration of identity. Family Album includes family elegies, narrative poems and commissioned work. The dissertation represents the first study of length about black women's poetry in Britain. Dealing with a historical tradition dating back to the eighteenth century, this thesis focuses on a recent selection of black women poets since the late 1970s. These women are part of a recognisable aesthetic which is still being built upon by contemporary black women writers. There are three parts to the thesis. The first part contains the original pieces of creative work which form a collection of poetry. This collection is accompanied by a section detailing my personal writing process. The second part comprises the critical analysis, research, commentary and the investigative process into black British women's writing. Questions of focus, order and arrangement have proved an exercise in creativity itself. The realisation that these two parts were not enough in terms of exploration of voice and writing provided the impetus for the third part of this thesis, 'she tries her tongue'. The function of this section is two fold: first to generate a relationship between the investigations into black women's poetry, Black Feminism and my own writing experience; second, as a way of challenging the objective, artificial and given method of writing a thesis. This is supported through a section where I locate myself within the black British women poets tradition. These linking pieces are an exploration into the personal-scholarly voice. Acknowledgements I am grateful to all my supervisors throughout the duration of my PhD. These include Professor James Procter, who has been amazing throughout the process, Professor Gemma Robinson, Professor W N Herbert, Coletle Bryce and Laura Fish. Support and encouragement from Anna Woodford, Maggie Tate, Paul Pearson, High Level Bridge Poets, Catherine Graham, Kay Easson, and Andrea Macdonald I am in major debt to my family, Alan Matthews and Nathan Matthews, for being my support, my inspiration and my reality checks. Thank you for bearing with me. 1 Family Album (a collection of poetry) 2 Contents tending to the past 4 Why Did You Come to England? 6 The Stoker, 1915 7 Sestina I - Arrival, 1915 8 White Women 9 Mahogany 10 Caressing Wood 11 In Bed with Hats 12 Sestina " - Easy Bones Cafe, 1940 14 Tommy Melgram Jr. 15 Sweetie 16 Not a Fighting Chance 17 Port of Spain, Trinidad 18 Mother/Mother Country 19 His Possessions 20 Sestina "' - When George Met Anita, March 1968 21 Wedding Day, 14 September, 1968 22 Bonny Baby Contest, 1969 23 Inventing Daddy in Bradford 24 Growing Tomatoes in the Back Room 25 Pomegranate 26 Daddy 27 Naughty Amelia Jane 28 Three Legged Stool 29 Take a Firm Hand 30 , Have Learned To Be What I Am Not 31 Bunk Beds 32 Daddy Lion 33 Coup D'Etat 34 Oil and Steel 35 Idol 36 My Dad's Hat 37 The Grip 38 Summer 39 Good Times 40 Rollers 41 Ode to My Mum's Broth 42 Ovaries 43 Swan Song 44 Pig's Trotters 45 Sunday Meat 46 I'm Becoming My Mum 47 Eyes Down, Look In 48 3 Acknowledgements Acknowledgements are due to the following: Fabric, Interpoetry, Madeline, Nthposition, Other Poetry, Poui: The Cave Hill Literary Annual, Sable Litmag, Shadowlands, Ten by Ten, The Green Door, The New Writer, The Ranfurly Review, The Rialto. Some of these poems have appeared in the anthologies Brown Eyes Anthology (Matador, 2006), Hair Anthology (Suitcase Press, 2006), Modem Love (Crocus Press, 2007), Sexual Attraction Revealed Anthology (Anchor House Press, 2007). A selection of these poems also appeared in the pamphlet Like the Wind Over a Secret (ID on Tyne Press, 2009). The author received a Decibel and Arts Council England Spotlight Award 2003-2004. The author received residences at The Literary and Philosophical Society, The North of England Institute of Mining and Mechanical Engineering, Can Serrat, Barcelona Spain and MAS-SAMple, Caribbean Residences, Trinidad and Tobago and Barbados in 2007-2009. 4 tending to the past after Etheridge Knight there are people buried who are not content to rest in silence! they haunt me!their words ripple upwards and outwards! calling to me! calling me back to those photo albums stacked neglected! creased worn torn soiled sepia and black and white! images of generations! gone with the wind i did not make it!it was already there waiting for me voices calling me into the past!wanting me to knit their faces together into some kind of whole! knitting isn't my strength! once i drop a stitch a gap is created! a gap i try to fill with false memories my great granddad! mother's mother's side! why did you come to england you left the heart of darkness for this land, where your fire was soon put out! i feel the texture of your suit! i recognise your straight back/the poser without! your stance! but the details are fabrications i did not name it!it was already there waiting for me voices calling me back to the land of the hummingbird! where i smell the fragrant air of immortelle! see the emerald velvet hills touch the sky my father! you left the crown colony for this land! where your blood was poisoned! i know your style with your hand in your left pocket! the poser!no hint of a smile! a performer! the truth! never known i did not mould it!it was already there waiting for me voices calling me into the past! wanting me to gather the lost threads of experiences! but my hands are shaky and awkward! the road map of lines lead down deadends! roundabouts and detours!access denied my great granddad! mother'S father's side! you left little england's sugar cane behind for this land where you spread your seed far and wide! your wood cutters hands! veins like ropes! thumbs flat and discoloured! i know the grain of your skin! i sense the width of your nose! the poser with a pigeon breast! your longevity a fact! the finer points a mystery i am not sure what it should be!but it was here waiting for me i rememory! i feel the intense heat! 5 i sleep with red ants! rise anew! a different look in my eyes! a different look from my eyes i know your style is mine! i know your blood is mine remembering faces! names! dates and histories is the task in hand to validate me! but the gaps continue to grow as time passes by but these photographs root me! stay! i know your fabric!i feel your fabric in my blood i am not sure what it should be! i know this is not my voice! i know i did not make it! name it! mould it but it was there waiting for me! i know you are mine 6 Why Did You Come to England? Name: Charles Mason English not the African name. How can I know the real great granddad without knowing your real name? Why did you come to England? What was wrong with your life on the Gold Coast that you had to leave all you knew for another world? What was the beauty of England except a word resting on the lips of a sailor? Why did you come to England? Looking at your face, with no hint of a smile, was it worth the sacrifice? You found a red haired Geordie woman and two children who you never saw reach double figures. Why did you come to England? 7 The Stoker, 1915 I sit here with my back ram-rod straight, waiting for the man to fix his light box. I sit here with my suit and white white collar, shoes shined, hair parted and ironed down straight. I sit here now with my hat like a dome perched on the small table beside me. I sit here with memories of travelling across the sea, away from my people. I sit here with my back turned from my gods as I followed the gentlemen with fire. I sit here knowing I can not return; I have forsaken my father's name. I sit here looking the viewer in the eye, ever bold in my life choice, knowing ma's proud.