Awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1992, Derek Walcott is the most important West Indian poet writing in English today, and his success has inspired many aspiring Caribbean writers. He began his career divided between his driving commitment to the revolutionary cause of his native Caribbean and his strong ties to a Western literary tradition. In his works he has studied the conflict between the heritage of European and West Indian culture. Abandoning Dead Metaphors is a critical appreciation of the works produced in Walcott's Caribbean phase (1946-1981). The poetry of this phase contains most of the seminal ideas and values that underlie his total achievement. This study closely examines Walcott's definitive use of metaphor, through which he conducts a deeply philosophical discourse focusing on the juxtaposition of his concern with a regional history of negation and his immersion in the Western literary and cultural tradition of the colonizer. Studying the works of this period also allows for a full exposure of Walcott's engagement with the landscape, culture and society of the region. Ismond's work is essential reading for students of Caribbean literature and scholars of Ne

The books in the Florida and the Caribbean Open Books Series demonstrate the University Press of Florida’s long history of publishing Latin American and Caribbean studies titles that connect in and through Florida, highlighting the connections between the Sunshine State and its neighboring islands. Books in this series show how early explorers found and settled Florida and the Caribbean. They tell the tales of early pioneers, both foreign and domestic. They examine topics critical to the area such as travel, migration, economic opportunity, and tourism. They look at the growth of Florida and the Caribbean and the attendant pressures on the environment, culture, urban development, and the movement of peoples, both forced and voluntary. The Florida and the Caribbean Open Books Series gathers the rich data available in these architectural, archaeological, cultural, and historical works, as well as the travelogues and naturalists’ sketches of the area prior to the twentieth century, making it accessible for scholars and the general public alike. The Florida and the Caribbean Open Books Series is made possible through a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities and the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, under the Humanities Open Books program.