Lorna Goodison's first poetry collection to be published in Canada in over nine years, Mother Muse heralds the return of a major voice. The poems in Goodison's new book move boldly and range widely; here are praise songs alongside laments; autobiography shares pages with the collective past. In her exquisitely lyrical evocations of Jamaican lore and tradition, Goodison has always shown another side of history.

While celebrating a wide cross-section of women--from Mahalia Jackson to Sandra Bland — Mother Muse focuses on two under-regarded "mothers" in Jamaican music: Sister Mary Ignatius, who nurtured many of Jamaica's most gifted musicians, and celebrated dancer Anita "Margarita" Mahfood.

These important figures lead a collection of formidable scope and intelligence, one that seamlessly blends the personal and the political. (From Vehicule Press)

Lorna Goodison is one of Canada's most renowned writers. She was Jamaica's poet laureate from 2017 to 2020. Over the past 40 years, Goodison has written 14 books of poetry, including Collected Poems, and an award-winning memoir From Harvey River, which won the 2008 B.C. National Award for Canadian Non-Fiction and was a finalist for both the Trillium Book Award and the Charles Taylor Prize for Literary Non-Fiction. She was awarded the 2019 Queen's Gold Medal for Poetry for her body of work.