Caribbean poems for National Poetry Month

For National Poetry Month, we’re shining a light on some of the poetry gems in the Digital Library of the Caribbean, a collaboration administered by the University of Florida, Florida International University and the University of the Virgin Islands.

A partnership between libraries, archives and universities, dLOC makes cultural and historical material from the area available worldwide. In the library’s trove of Caribbean poetry are videos of several poets reading their work, including this 2013 performance by Jamaican-born poet and artist d’bi.young anitafrika.

Among 48 videos of St. Lucian poet Vladimir Lucien reading from his book “Sounding Ground,” we found this short and sweet poem:

For students laboring over their final papers as the end of the semester draws near, some words of comfort from Jamaican poet Pamela Mordecai on the beauty of the blank page:

And finally, at a reading in in Newfoundland, Canada, Jamaican poet Tanya Shirley calls out a cheater:

Looking for more? You can browse digitized and “born digital” items from maps to movie posters, even search by country, at dLOC.com.