Poetry Postcards

Teweiariki Teaero weaves the Commonwealth together in Kaleidoscope of Hope.

Frank Scott sends a poem from the Spice Islands, Grenada.

Jully Makini makes fun of young women becoming Westernised in her poem Civilised Girl.

Ras Mo, who works with young people on violence prevention, reads Pink and Blue.

Vladimir Lucien talks about the ‘cutlery of empire’ in his poem Ebb I.

Les Murray talks about his life at Bunyah and reads a new poem The Care.

Salwa Mornie explains traditional Bruneian poetry and reads I am.

Sasenarine Persaud explains why so many Guyanese have Indian heritage and reads Georgetown.

Loa Niumeitolu explains what the English language means to her in When we tell.

Euphrase Kezilahabi reads his poem Floods.

Gillian Clarke explains the historical importance of the Welsh language in Britain and reads Border.

Linisa George describes the bold character of Antiguans and reads In the Closet

Helda Marie reads Lamentations from Paradise.

Kevin Isaac regrets the destruction of nature that comes with development in his poem Landslides.

Lindelwa Xingwana describes the Mountain Kingdom and reads Let it be known.

Vahni Capildeo talks about the Commonwealth values and reads her poem Utter.

Selina Tusitala Marsh reads Tuvalu Blues, a poem about rising sea levels in the Pacific.

Jack Mapanje mocks African rulers in his poem When This Carnival Finally Closes.

Candy Neubert recalls a specialmoment when she returned home in her poem, privacy.

Jacob Polley from Cumbria reads The North-South Divide.

Michael Longley from Belfast reads All of These People.

Charvis Ferguson talks about tourism in the Turks and reads Vacation Island.

Jackie Anderson recalls feeling trapped on the rock when the Spanish border was closed in her poem To the Harbour.

Adjei Agyei Baah reads his poem For the Mountains.

Basil George talks about his grandson inspring his poem A Closed Hand.

In Language, Baha Zain explores the difficulty of expressing our true meaning in words.

Lyn Detabene reads Proudly She Sways Her True Colour.

Ivory Kelly reads Schoolbooks about post-colonial education.

Umar Timol explores the paradoxical nature of island life in his poem Island.

Michael Dom reads The political economy of a pig farmer’s life.

In Sadaf Saaz Siddiqi’s Sari Reams, she describes its beauty and significance.

Kathleen Jamie reads Here lies our land, a poem commemorating the 700th anniversary of the Battle of Bannockburn.

Farah Didi reads I will forgive, a poem describing police brutality.

Sarah Thembile Mkhonza explains how praise poetry forms part of everyday life and reads Swaziland, I Witnessed You.

Sonia Sultuane, a Muslim poet, discusses identity in her poem African.

Emmanuel Hitilasha describes his native village and reads African Way.

Christian Campbell talks about the links between the Bahamas and Haiti, explored in his poem Goodman’s Bay II.

Sudesh Mishra talks about his indo-Fijian heritage and reads The Gust-proof Door, in memory of his father.

Leonard Dilbert says it’s important not to deny the painful history of many Caymanians in his poem Manna.

Salma was kept in the house for nine years when she refused to marry. She explains how poetry helped her survive.

Linda Banks discusses the challenges of tourism and development in Anguilla and reads her poem Heritage.

Janet Lees reads Resort, inspired by the image of a Punch and Judy stall on the beach.