What Do You Find Interesting About The Work Of Grace Nichols?

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What Do You Find Interesting About The Work Of Grace Nichols?

Grace Nichols was born in Guyana in 1950.  She lived there until 1977 when she came to live with her partner, another poet.  She writes many poems and anthologies.  Her poems are mainly about black people and their sense of culture.  She writes about the pride they have to be themselves and not to feel embarrassed about who they are.  She has also written poetry about missing her home and about what it feels like to be away.

        I have chosen to study four poems by Grace Nichols: these are, ‘Beauty,’ ‘The Fat Black Woman Goes Shopping,’ ‘Like A Beacon’ and ‘Island Man.’ These four poems all explore different aspects of cultural diversity.  ‘Beauty’ is about Nichols’ own views of beauty and not listening to the stereotypical ideas that are impounded into everybody’s minds.  Nichols doesn’t mean beauty in the sense of having a perfect figure and features but beauty in the form of being proud of herself and content with whom she is.  This poem is primarily about a fat black woman.

Another of these poems is about a fat black woman.  The title of this is ‘The Fat Black Woman Goes Shopping.’  Though this poem shows that she is proud of who she is, it also shows a little touch of insecurity within herself.  I can tell this through the lines   ‘and de pretty face sales gals

                   exchanging slimming glances’

These lines show that she feels anger towards the girls for having the stereotypical traits of beauty that she was so against in the last poem.  It shows how she wants society to change and become less bothered about size.

        The other two poems are about being away and missing home.  ‘Like A Beacon’ is about Grace Nichols missing her home and the comforts that she used to have there.  This poem shows that home is an important aspect of her life.

        She also seems to take it as an important part of other peoples lives too as the last poem ‘Island Man’ is about a man from the Caribbean who lives in London: he misses his home and dreams about being there.  Even though Nichols has written this poem about others, her sub heading is ‘for a Caribbean island man in London who still wakes up to the sound of the sea.’  From the sub heading, it could be imagined that she wrote this thinking about herself as well as others.  By writing that sub heading, it sounds as if she relates to the ‘island man’ who features in her poem.  It seems as if she wrote the heading to show her readers in that position that she empathises with them.

        Titles of poems can sometimes say a lot about a poem.  ‘Beauty’ is a short simple title.  If the reader had only got as far as the title, it could be presumed that it would be similar in content to the stereotypical views of beauty or about the scenery.  When the poem is read fully, it is actually about a fat black woman.  It would surprise the reader because the first thought in a person’s head is not one of beauty.

        The poem ‘The Fat Black Woman Goes Shopping,’ has a long but precise title.  It tells you exactly what the poem is about.  It is very direct and it hides nothing.  To say, in the title of a poem ‘The Fat Black Woman…’ shows that Nichols is not ashamed to say, or to be who she is.  One could presume that the poem is autobiographical because it changes from third-person text; to first-person text for the line ‘Lord is aggravating.’  This indicates that she knows personally how this situation feels.  For her to describe herself as a fat black woman in a poem, which is likely to be read by many people, takes a strong-minded person who isn’t afraid to emphasise the fact that she is who she is.

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        ‘Like A Beacon’ is not a title which appears to give anything away.  The word ‘beacon’ can be associated with belisha beacons by a zebra crossing but this poem is not about these.  In this poem, ‘beacon’ is meant as a strong, important light.  Nichols is implying that her home is the warmth and strength that she loves and is an important part of her life.  She’s basically trying to say that her home is the light of her life.

        ‘Island Man’ has a short title.  It tells the reader very little (that it is about a man from an ...

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