A review by foggy_rosamund
The Perseverance by Raymond Antrobus

4.0

In this debut collection, Antrobus explores different aspects of his identity, particularly being d/Deaf and being Jamaican-British. This book also delves into Deaf history, and looks at relationships between fathers and sons. I particularly admired Antrobus's focus on Deaf women in history, as I find I rarely see male poets writing about female historical figures. I found this collection witty, precise, and full of carefully controlled rage. Many of my favourite poems were about some aspect of Deafness, such as Conversation With the Art Teacher (A Translation Attempt) which is a wonderful attempt at capturing the fluidity of Sign and the deficiencies of written English, as well as capturing the art teacher's story. There is also a wonderful take-down of Ted Hughes' poem Deaf School in which Antrobus takes apart Hughes' ignorant depiction of Deaf children. He includes a number of poems about figures in Deaf history, such as Laura Bridgeman and Mable Gardiner Hubbards, as well as a beautiful sequence about a woman known as Samantha, a Deaf Jamaican woman who moved to England in the 1980s. This is a fluid, confident book that explores how we use language and what it means to have a voice. An excellent collection that I recommend.