A Nest Full of Stars

Berry has the gift of being able to write about childhood as if he were still there. In this new collection he is on top form writing about families, arguments, school, insects and animals and celebrating difference and experience. In his introduction he tells us, 'I developed a strong yearning to write poems based on forms and influences drawn from everyday Caribbean language and culture.' This is one of Berry's greatest strengths, to let his culture and experience inform and enrich language and ideas. Whether writing in Caribbean Creole or 'standard English' his poems are tender, true and magical. The poem 'Big Page Writer' is only one example of these qualities: 'Just carrying on writing / like a hard-working explorer / I suddenly have a full half page / making me a real big page writer. / Voices of alphabet-shapes, welcome / like eyeballs, birds' footprints, twigs, pebbles / ... my big half page holds a mighty magic mood.'