Commonwealth Poetry Postcards

[Leanne]

For some wonderful contemporary poetry and a terrific idea, here's a link to Commonwealth Poetry Postcards on BBC Radio. The idea is that by the end of the series, there will be a poem from each Commonwealth nation in time for the Games.

I think this is a great way to remind people that the Commonwealth is a collection of widely diverse nations with unique identities and individual voices, united only by their (usually quite loose, these days) association with Great Britain. Still, that shared heritage (and shared desire to beat the English!) is enough to bring us all together.

My favourite so far is Tusiata Avia from Samoa. We have a lot of Samoans where I live, and they often suffer from a bit of a bad reputation - this poem shows how being so far removed from their origins can confuse a national identity.

[rayheinrich]

... the Commonwealth ...

Thank the fates we avoided that one... Went over to listen and they were quite
interesting, BUT there ain't one from Australia (or whatever they're calling it now).

Get busy.

[Erthona]

Thanks for the tip Ray.

Until there is one from Australia, I ain't listening.


dale

[Leanne]

No, there's not one from Australia yet... there are a few countries in the Commonwealth to get through before the important ones

[rayheinrich]

Uh, well, never mind.

I emailed an entry for St. Lucia to the BBC and they said
it needed to be selected and sent from a participating
commonwealth's grand pooh-bah committee or some such.

Then I thought I might get better results by going straight
to the source so I sent my poem to the Governor General
of St. Lucia explaining my mom's grandfather was born
there and that I have always considered St. Lucia my
true homeland. I sent copies to the Saint Lucia Solid
Waste Management Authority and the Saint Lucia Fish
Marketing Corporation Ltd. as well.

I haven't heard back from them as yet, but I promise
to post updates to this thread of any developments.