Turn Thanks: Poems

by Lorna Goodison

The lyric energy, compassion, humor, and tenderness that characterize Lorna Goodison's work are once again in evidence in Turn Thanks , her seventh collection. Here the Jamaican poet turns to acknowledge her own ancestors and those of her mother and father, aunts and uncles, Africa, William Wordsworth, Vincent Van Gogh, the Wild Woman. "Whether you will receive this letter or not I cannot tell," she writes. "Still, I intend to send it . . . "
 

Genres: Poetry

112 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1999

About the author

Lorna Goodison was born in Jamaica, and has won numerous awards for her writing in both poetry and prose, including the Commonwealth Poetry Prize, the Musgrave Gold Medal from Jamaica, the Henry Russel Award for Exceptional Creative Work from the University of Michigan, and one of Canada’s largest literary prizes, the British Columbia National Award for Canadian Non-Fiction for From Harvey River: A Memoir of My Mother and Her People (2007). Her work has been included in the major anthologies and collections of contemporary poetry over the past twenty-five years, such as the Norton Anthology of Modern and Contemporary Poetry, the Harper Collins World Reader, the Vintage Book of Contemporary World Poetry, the Norton Anthology of World Masterpieces, and Longman Masters of British Literature.

Along with her award winning memoir, she has published three collections of short stories (including By Love Possessed, 2011) and nine collections of poetry.

Her work has been translated into many languages, and she has been a central figure at literary festivals throughout the world. Lorna Goodison teaches at the University of Michigan, where she is the Lemuel A. Johnson Professor of English and African and Afro American Studies.

Reviews

[Matthew Hittinger]

I thought I had finished reading this about five years ago and realized I stopped half-way through...missing all the good poems in "Part 3: The Mango of Poetry" such as "County, Sligoville" and "Letter to Vincent van Gogh." A happy Sunday discovery to read/re-read.

[Holly]

Day 1 of the Sealey Challenge 2023: I enjoyed this. I think I need to go back and read it again more slowly after August. I liked her unexpected use of rhyme and the lovely alliterative language. Nice imagery and some great character poems.

[C]

I very much liked the long poem "This is my Father's Country."

Otherwise, I didn't have strong feelings either way on many of the poems.