Mother Muse - Paperback

by Lorna Goodison (Author)

Lorna Goodison's first poetry collection to be published in Canada in over nine years, Mother Muse heralds the return of a major voice. The poems in Goodison's new book move boldly and range widely; here are praise songs alongside laments; autobiography shares pages with the collective past. In her exquisitely lyrical evocations of Jamaican lore and tradition, Goodison has always shown another side of history. While celebrating a wide cross-section of women--from Mahalia Jackson to Sandra Bland--Mother Muse focuses on two under-regarded "mothers" in Jamaican music: Sister Mary Ignatius, who nurtured many of Jamaica's most gifted musicians, and celebrated dancer Anita "Margarita" Mahfood. These important figures lead a collection of formidable scope and intelligence, one that seamlessly blends the personal and the political.

Author Biography

Lorna Goodison is the author of 14 books of poetry, three short-story collections, and an essay collection. Her acclaimed memoir, From Harvey River: A Memoir of My Mother and Her People (2009) was a finalist for the Charles Taylor Prize for Literary Non-Fiction and the Trillium Award, and won the B.C. Award for Canadian Non-Fiction. Born in Jamaica, Goodison has taught at the University of Toronto and the University of Michigan, and now lives in British Columbia. She was Jamaica's Poet Laureate from 2017-2020 and received The Queen's Gold Medal for Poetry in 2019.