The Oxford Studies in Postcolonial Literatures series (general editor: Elleke Boehmer) offers stimulating and accessible introductions to definitive topics and key genres and regions within the rapidly diversifying field of postcolonial literary studies in English. Postcolonial Poetry in English provides a comprehensive introduction to the development of English poetry in all the regions that were once part of the British Empire. The idea of postcolonial poetry is held together by three factors: the global community constituted by English; the creative possibilities accessible through English; and patterns of literary development common to regions with a history of recent decolonization. In showing how diverse poetic traditions in English evolved from dependency to varying degrees of cultural self-confidence, the book answers two broad questions: how is postcolonial studies relevant to the interpretation of poetry, and how does poetry contribute to our idea of postcolonial writing? The book is divided into three parts: the first works out a method of analysis based on recent publications of outstanding interest; the second narrates the development of poetic traditions in Asia, Africa, and the Caribbean, and the settler colonies of Canada, South Africa, Australia, and New Zealand; the third analyses key motifs, such as the struggle for minority self-representation; the cultural politics of gender, modernism, and postmodernity; and the experience of migration and self-exile in contemporary Anglophone societies. Postcolonial Poetry in English provides a succinct and wide-ranging introduction to some of the most exciting poetic writing of the twentieth century. It is ideally suited for readers interested in world writing in English, contemporary literature, postcolonial writing, cultural studies, and postmodern culture.

About the Author
Rajeev Patke was born in Pune, India. He read English literature for a BA and an MA from Pune and an M.Phil. and D.Phil. from Oxford, where he was a Rhodes Scholar. He has taught at the University of Pune, and has taught at the National University of Singapore since 1988. He has authored a book on the long poems of Wallace Stevens (Cambridge, 1985), co-edited several books on literature and culture, and his ongoing research interests include the writings of Walter Benjamin, and the relation between poetry and painting.

Reviews
One of the main strengths of the book is the diversity of voices it makes available through quotation, allusion and cross-reference, which in itself is a vital contribution to existing representations of the sheer wealth of postcolonial poetry in English. * The Times Higher Education Supplement *
...a gem that should be available for both undergraduate and postgraduate students in every university library...Patke's exceptional writing style and his adept handling of such a vast body of information secures it as a very useful research and teaching text. * Review Newsletter *
The first books in this series are exemplary. Newell, Patke, and Keown all achieve the difficult task of combining accessible, wide-ranging and authoritative introductions to particular areas and genres with new perspectives and fresh insights into specific texts. I found them remarkably readable and rewarding. * Lyn Innes, Professor Emerita, University of Kent *



Book Information
ISBN 9780199275649
Author Rajeev S. Patke
Format Paperback
Page Count 280
Imprint Oxford University Press
Publisher Oxford University Press
Weight(grams) 325g
Dimensions(mm) 202mm * 136mm * 16mm