In Shivanee Ramlochan’s stunning, evocative debut, the poet is both the haunted one and the haunting; words rise out of the ashes of the past, but also offer a new and ingenious vision of the future. These are poems that comb the traditional folkloric tales of the Caribbean and, at the same time, subvert those stories to create a new and utterly transformative work.

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This moving, lyrical debut collection is the work of a blazing new voice, one that, like the Hindu goddess Kali, offers us both protection and liberation — a rare gift.