About the Book

 

Sixty years of British West Indian life captured in new poetry trilogy

 

This is a poetry trilogy by acclaimed performance artist and writer, Victor Richards: Streets Paved with Gold, Return to the Caribbean & Children of the First Generation. The trilogy is based closely on his three similarly titled, and widely acclaimed, one-man plays.

 

Victor’s parents were among the many West Indians arriving in 1950s Britain. Along with thousands of others, they arrived full of hope, dreams and the promise of new lives. Instead, they disembarked into decades of heartache and struggle for acceptance beyond their wildest imaginings.

 

Victor Richards has devoted his life to an impassioned one-man crusade articulating the trials and tribulations facing generations of British West Indian families. Already acclaimed for his one-man plays, he now brings his unique experience and perspective to an eagerly awaited first poetry trilogy. 

 

Initially adopting the persona of first-generation Barbadian Augustus Cleveland Johnson (and later, that of his son Granville), the trilogy (like Victor’s plays) takes the reader on a heart-wrenching journey through the decades. From Teddy Boys’ racial violence to the cool soul and reggae of Blues MCs, all life is present in Victor’s acute observations.

 

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