…A part of me wanted to write a poem in reponse to Karl Watson’s A Kind of Right to be Idle: OLD DOLL Matriarch of Newton Plantation – so I did.  The overall journey varied: from feeling as though the horizons of my perspectives on Plantation Slavery in Barbados had become more nuanced; through amusement at the tribulations and industrial action the female enslaved put the managers through; to suspicion of the real motives behind the apparent forbearance of the absentee owners and managers toward the troublesome family; to a final cynical fulfilment as my suspicions were proven…  Why on earth did the author write the book the way he wrote it?

The above excerpt is from Ayesha Gibson-Gill’s guest review of of Karl Watson’s A Kind of Right to be Idle: OLD DOLL Matriarch of Newton Plantation, which took the form of a poem for this week’s addition to the Fresh Milk Books Tumblr – the online space inviting interaction with our collection in the Colleen Lewis Reading Room.

For new Critical. Creative. Fresh reviews every week, look out for our #CCF Weekly  and see the good reads we have available at Fresh Milk!

About Ayesha:

Ayesha Gibson-Gill is the Cultural Officer of Literary Arts at Barbados’ National Cultural Foundation (NCF), West Terrace, St. James. You may contact Ms. Gibson-Gill at (246) 417-6625.