Caribbean poetry is any form of poem, rhyme

Rhyme

A rhyme is a repetition of similar sounds in two or more words and is most often used in poetry and songs. The word "rhyme" may also refer to a short poem, such as a rhyming couplet or other brief rhyming poem such as nursery rhymes.-Etymology:...

, or song

Song

In music, a song is a composition for voice or voices, performed by singing.A song may be accompanied by musical instruments, or it may be unaccompanied, as in the case of a cappella songs...

 that gets its derivatives from the Caribbean

Caribbean

The Caribbean is a crescent-shaped group of islands more than 2,000 miles long separating the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean Sea, to the west and south, from the Atlantic Ocean, to the east and north...

. This type of media became popular primarily in the early 1900s with the works of poets Linton Kwesi Johnson

Linton Kwesi Johnson

Linton Kwesi Johnson is a UK-based dub poet. He became the second living poet, and the only black poet, to be published in the Penguin Classics series. His poetry involves the recitation of his own verse in Jamaican Patois over dub-reggae, usually written in collaboration with renowned British...

, Kamau Brathwaite, and Derek Walcott

Derek Walcott

Derek Alton Walcott, OBE OCC is a Saint Lucian poet, playwright, writer and visual artist who was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1992 and the T. S. Eliot Prize in 2011 for White Egrets. His works include the Homeric epic Omeros...

.

Origins

The origins of Caribbean poetry lie in countries such as Jamaica

Jamaica

Jamaica is an island nation of the Greater Antilles, in length, up to in width and 10,990 square kilometres in area. It is situated in the Caribbean Sea, about south of Cuba, and west of Hispaniola, the island harbouring the nation-states Haiti and the Dominican Republic...

 and Barbados

Barbados

Barbados is an island country in the Lesser Antilles. It is in length and as much as in width, amounting to . It is situated in the western area of the North Atlantic and 100 kilometres east of the Windward Islands and the Caribbean Sea; therein, it is about east of the islands of Saint...

. These countries have been known as international hot spots for great poetry due to their unique styles, abstract ideas, and the addition of musical instruments to their style. Bongos were added for their emphasis on lyrics, and for their added mood.

Famous Poets

Famous poets from the Caribbean genre could include Kamau Brathwaite, International Winner of the Sixth Annual Griffin Poetry Prize in 2006, Linton Kwesi Johnson, who became only the second living poet to be published by Penguin Classic series, and Derek Walcott

Derek Walcott

Derek Alton Walcott, OBE OCC is a Saint Lucian poet, playwright, writer and visual artist who was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1992 and the T. S. Eliot Prize in 2011 for White Egrets. His works include the Homeric epic Omeros...

, winner of the 1992 Nobel Prize for Literature. These poets write primarily about politics, war, and spirituality among other topics.

See also

• Caribbean literature

Other important poets include Anthony Kellman whose 2008 book Limestone: An Epic Poem of Barbados is the first published epic poem of Barbados. Kellman is the originator of the Caribbean poetic form, Tuk Verse, a form that incorporates melodical and rhythmical elements of Barbados' indigenous folk music. Mahadai Das and Lorna Goodison are other notable poets.