Lorna Goodison

In this engaging conversation, Lorna Goodison, the former Poet Laureate of Jamaica, dives deep into her modern Jamaican translation of Dante's Inferno. She shares her fascination with Dante, describing how cultural influences shaped her interpretation, particularly the choice of Louise Bennett as her Virgil. Lorna reflects on how exile informs her work and connects contemporary violence to Dante's morality. She also emphasizes the importance of vernacular in her translation, aiming to reclaim and catalog Jamaican voices within the text's complexities.

Lorna Goodison, the former Poet Laureate of Jamaica, dives deep into the themes of colonization and identity through her evocative poem 'Reporting Back to Queen Isabella.' She imagines a dramatic meeting between Queen Isabella and Christopher Columbus, brilliantly exposing the vacuous nature of colonial exploits. Goodison's vivid language challenges traditional narratives, bringing forth the dignity and voices of indigenous peoples often lost in history. Her unique perspective reclaims the past, transforming it into art that speaks to contemporary issues.

As part of a celebratory launch party for the new Poetry Unbound book, Pádraig welcomed Lorna Goodison, former Poet Laureate of Jamaica, into a joyful Zoom room of poetry lovers and listeners of the show, old and new. We draw Season 6 to a close with their conversation on themes explored in Lorna’s poem “Reporting Back to Queen Isabella” (one of the 50 featured in the book): poetry as a “made thing”; poetry as a form of travel.And: Pádraig chats with our wonderful producer and composer Gautam Srikishan on the role of music in the show, with a warm hello from all the humans behind Poetry Unbound. Watch the full, unedited event here.Lorna Goodison is one of the Caribbean's most distinguished contemporary poets. Her work appears in the Norton Anthology of World Masterpieces and her many honors include the Commonwealth Poetry Prize, Americas Region. She is the author of numerous books of poetry, including Supplying Salt and Light, Controlling the Silver, Traveling Mercies, and many more. Her work, translated into many languages, is widely published and anthologized.Find Lorna Goodison’s poem in Poetry Unbound: 50 Poems to Open Your World, and in Season 3 of Poetry Unbound.Thanks to everyone who joined us for Season 6 — we’ll be back with Season 7 later in 2023. In the meantime, continue your poetry ritual through our weekly Substack newsletter, with more musings and prompts from Pádraig and lively community of conversation in the comments.Find the transcript for this show at onbeing.org. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.