In this novel Opal Palmer Adisa brings to life a whole community and writes with understanding and compassion about the frailties of its inhabitants. Drawing onJamaican folklore, she shows what is at the heart of village life, and how that life can be sustained.

It Begins with Tears (Caribbean Writers Series)

Literature & Fiction

Adisa, Opal Palmer

United States

Heinemann Drama

A riveting collection poetry, unique in that even specific events and place become recognizable.

Tamarind and Mango Women

Sister Vision Pr

Leaf-Of-Life

Poetry

Jukebox Press

Fiction. African American Studies. BAKEFACE AND OTHER GUAVA STORIES is the fi rst title in Mango Publishing's new Classic Series, which will bring back into print tried and tested quality fi ction with an international reputation. This established collection is made up of four Jamaican stories: `Bake-Face', `Duppy Get Her', `Me Man Angel' and `Widow's Walk'. Adisa won the 1987 Pushcart Prize award for the short story, `Duppy Get Her'. An important thematic thread running through the stories is woman's relationship with self, woman's relationships with one another and with men, community, motherhood, hope, emptiness and power. Marginalised by both patriarchal and imperial structures, these women have, in effect, been victimised into a kind of voicelessness which Adisa subverts through her writing. In the stories, Adisa develops a new language to give voice to her women characters. Hers is a voice speaking from within the community, though the narrative is frequently focalised through the protagonist's consciousness. "Solid, visceral, important stories written with integrity and love"--Alice Walker. Opal Palmer Adisa is a Jamaica-born novelist, poet, essayist, children's book author, visual artist, storyteller and teacher. Though she has lived in the United States since age 16, Adisa's work is rooted in Caribbean landscapes.

Bake-Face and Other Guava Stories

Kelsey Street Pr

Mystery and Magic
When Bamidele spots two Moko Jumbies outside of his window one night he is determined to uncover the mystery behind the masked stilted dancers. He embarks on a quest: Are Moko Jumbies to be feared or are they really protective magical ancestral spirits?
Praise for Look! A Moko Jumbie
"The narrative breaks into a wonderful reflection of the Caribbean…[and] culminates in a magical dance beneath the trees which will delight readers. Opal Palmer Adisa’s words create colourful images.”—Diane Browne, author of Abigail’s Glorious Hair and the Commonwealth Foundation prize winning story, The Happiness Dress.
"Opal Palmer Adisa skilfully, artfully, and with great lyricism shares her tale of a child’s encounter with the Moko Jumbie. The telling...interweaves the elements of a rich cultural setting and those of a loving family, which all work together to keep a child safe and sound.”—Tregenza A. Roach, author of The Blessing of Rain, The Lesson Box, and All This Is Love
"Opal Palmer Adisa brings the spirit of the Caribbean alive in this vibrant book which evokes the warmth and colour of the islands. The vivid setting and the sparkling descriptions are just delicious. A joy to read.”—Valerie Bloom, author of several children’s novels and books of poetry including Jaws and Claws and Things With Wings.

Look! A Moko Jumbie

Children's Books

Fairy Tales, Folk Tales & Myths

Love's Promise

Stories of innocent childhood love; of couples meeting again after years of being apart and finding each other still with the passion of earlier days; older women finding time to enjoy companionship and sex; a wife whose love for herself takes her to another zone of self-protection. This is Love's Promise which refreshes our faith in humanity, a way of being naturally in the world, flaws and all. -Carole Boyce Davies

Literary

Plumeria

Eros Muse examines the love affair between the poet and her muse.  Personifying the muse as her ultimate, possessive lover, the poet explores what it means to be a writer. The essays are more pragmatic in tone and approach and explore the dual role of mother and writer. Yet the poems are more flirtatious, a dance of language and process, a prance, a trot, a sweeping waltz in which the poet and language shimmy across the room.      “Not only is this book a series of essays, poems, and journals from one of the Americas most talented and prolific authors, but a virtual how-to manual for those who have to juggle the tasks of writing with those of parenting. Opal Palmer Adisa succeeds, wonderfully.”  --Ishmael Reed, Poet & MacArthy Fellow         “In Eros Muse, the Jamaican-born Opal Palmer Adisa explores and celebrates motherhood, sexuality, ‘the orgasmic rapture of writing,’ and language itself – right on down to parts of speech.  By asserting that ‘the poem is a seed in quest of the sun,’ Adisa makes her point: the word remains a procreative force in which she, for one, takes pleasure.”   -- Al Young, Poet Laureate of California  “Opal, whose elders ‘lived life with a robust intensity that tingled [her] to the core,’ does not lessen that familial fury in these poems & essays, cannily meshing sacred rites de passion with the secular/cultural rights of her Caribbean/World cosmos. Her consummate poetics & sensual commitments--in defiance of a storm of  ‘norm/s’--do indeed ‘tingle us to the core.’”    --Eugene Redmond, Poet Laureate of East Saint Louis, Illinois; Editor of Drumvoices Revue  “Opal Palmer Adisa turns within herself to conjure up some of the external/internal events and experiences that culminated in her becoming a writer. She describes her first stories composed while hiding in tall grasses and her growing efforts to address issues of cultural imperialism, her love of words, and her appreciation of the ‘vibrant energy of her people.’”  --Jayne Cortez, Poet

Eros Muse

Africa World Pr

Fiction. African American Studies. BAKEFACE AND OTHER GUAVA STORIES is the fi rst title in Mango Publishing's new Classic Series, which will bring back into print tried and tested quality fi ction with an international reputation. This established collection is made up of four Jamaican stories: `Bake-Face', `Duppy Get Her', `Me Man Angel' and `Widow's Walk'. Adisa won the 1987 Pushcart Prize award for the short story, `Duppy Get Her'. An important thematic thread running through the stories is woman's relationship with self, woman's relationships with one another and with men, community, motherhood, hope, emptiness and power. Marginalised by both patriarchal and imperial structures, these women have, in effect, been victimised into a kind of voicelessness which Adisa subverts through her writing. In the stories, Adisa develops a new language to give voice to her women characters. Hers is a voice speaking from within the community, though the narrative is frequently focalised through the protagonist's consciousness. "Solid, visceral, important stories written with integrity and love"--Alice Walker. Opal Palmer Adisa is a Jamaica-born novelist, poet, essayist, children's book author, visual artist, storyteller and teacher. Though she has lived in the United States since age 16, Adisa's work is rooted in Caribbean landscapes.

Mango Publishing

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Adisa, Opal Palmer. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Books by Adisa, Opal Palmer

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Adisa, Opal Palmer. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

It Begins with Tears (Caribbean Writers Series)

Tamarind and Mango Women

Leaf-Of-Life

Bake-Face and Other Guava Stories

Look! A Moko Jumbie

Look! A Moko Jumbie

Love's Promise

Love's Promise

Eros Muse

Bake-Face and Other Guava Stories