Pepper Seed

by Malika Booker

Drawing on dramatic monologue, historical narratives, poetry of witness, and an integral intimate-domestic voice, this compilation portrays a visceral emotive patchwork of everyday dramas in the fabric of ordinary life. Written by a poet whose sense of rootedness shapes the dimensions of her work, it delves into a multiplicity of places, characters, locations, landscapes, and languages. From Grenada to the Heathrow airport, these poems are interconnected in a larger diasporic story.

Genres: Poetry

81 pages, Paperback

First published May 1, 2013

About the author

Malika Booker is a writer, spoken word and multidisciplinary artist, whose work spans literature, education and cross-arts. She was born in the UK to Guyanese and Grenadian parents.

She first began writing and performing poetry in 1989 while at Goldsmiths University, studying anthropology. During her last year there, she realized that her sole career goal was writing poetry.

She spent the first 13 years of her life in Guyana before returning to the UK with her parents. She now lives in South London.

Reviews

[Brown Girl Reading · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really found this poems moving in a visceral manner. Here's my video review: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lxkjb...

[Tasnim (Reads.and.Reveries) · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5 stars. Pepper Seed by Malika Booker is my most recent read of the three and I don’t even know where to begin, but the imagery, my word, the imagery! Let’s start there.
This collection is so sensory and Malika Booker brings Guyana and Grenada in particular to life. Food carries meaning: it evokes a sense of place, culture, feeling. It is a gift but also a curse: “... Here schoolgirls’ bodies ripen like fruit to be plucked by grown men lusting for island hips to stake in dark pastures and season with sperm till their breasts swell”.
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Malika Booker speaks with an almost painful honesty and in doing so verbalises oft unspoken truths about womanhood, Black womanhood, sacrifices that are made, advantages that are taken, and the ways in which abuse at the hands of men is something so many generations of women come to learn of, one way or another.
The epilogue is taken from Krik Krak by Edwidge Danticat and it perfectly encapsulates how woman-centred this collection is:
“The women in your family have never lost touch with one another. Death is a path we take to meet on the other side… With every step you take there is an army of women watching over you”.

[Jherane Patmore · Rating 5 out of 5]

THIS COLLECTION NEEDS YOUR ATTENTION!
I loved every moment of Malika's electric poetry and I find the relationship she has with her mother and her mother's mother worth exploring! A lot of Caribbean women may find this relatable. If you love Caribbean literature you should read this, even if "poetry isn't your thing" you'll enjoy Pepper Seed.

[Katrine Solvaag · Rating 4 out of 5]

A stunning collection. Already looking forward to reading it again in the future.

[KD · Rating 5 out of 5]

Anything she writes, I’m reading

I adore Malika Booker and I’m reading anything she’s writing. Thanks to penguin modern poets collection for introducing me to her!

Her turn of phrase is just exquisite and she treats words like delicious sweets. She’s exactly the kind of poet I love (unfortunately don’t know enough poets to accurately compare her, she’s in a league of her own though). To me she’s a little reminiscent of my all time favourite poet, Sylvia Plath

Booker captures bodily experience and sensuality; but such depth of feeling too. The collection does not follow a strict narrative arc like a memoir in poetry (which I like), but each poem fits together so well and unlike some poets, this collection of work by Booker absolutely stands alone and if bits were extracted and put in an anthology, her poems would stand out brightly.

Not every poem seems to be to be about rhythym, but in my reading, I found many of them to be rhythmic and assonant in the best way, and this is what makes poems memorable by heart. I read both poems and the collection over and over because of this rhythm that makes them such a joy to read.

I love the moments of Grenadian / Guyanese patois and the undeniable Caribbean threads running throughout this collection.

These are poems about love, loss, and fraught family relationships. It’s not easy reading and every poem is powerful and moving. However, my favourite picks are:

Minetta speaks
Island grief after hurricane ivan
Salt fish
Warning
Arrival
Erasure
A prayer for the dying
Love is a rebellious bird that nothing can tame

[Stacy-Ann · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love the way the author structure her book as well as how some of the poems is to do with different countries for example Trinidad, Grenada, London. One of the poems I love so much is one called ' Nothing Hill' in which she is talking about some of the old women at nothing hill carnival and music.
Thought out the book It was a great read.

[che · Rating 5 out of 5]

my mum brought this book back for me when she came home from travelling and oh wow ! this book was so raw and i felt so seen. i was sure that booker had peered into my own life and wrote about it. beautiful, beautiful book.

[Simi · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5, her poetry had some really nice lines and musicality.

[B A STRONG · Rating 5 out of 5]

An excellent read.

[Jemelle · Rating 4 out of 5]

Beautiful moments captured.
Stunning imagery through my thoughts.

[Charlotte · Rating 4 out of 5]

brilliant and unsettling. full of pain, some very dark images and scenes. i definitely feel like i need to read the collection through again to get a better appreciation of some of the poems, they were difficult but compelling.