Ishion Hutchinson’s (CRF 2023) book-length poem “School of Instructions” was included in the Guardian’s review roundup of the best recent poetry.
Rebecca Tamás wrote: “This visionary work of memory, elegy and loss captures the experiences of West Indian soldiers who fought for the British in the first world war. The collection weaves together the terrors of war with the terrors of imperialism, using dizzyingly original language and brutally impactful rhythms to create a tapestry of suffering, courage and struggle…Hutchinson subtly outlines the ways in which colonial force was perpetuated by language, English culture thrust into young minds with its own kind of violence… The collection sings of those who ‘have no memorial who are perished as though they had never been’ – reanimating their lives within the deathless, vivid fabric of poetry.”
Read the full review roundup here.
Photo: Eamonn McCabe/The Guardian