Self-Portrait as Othello by Jason Allen-Paisant
This second collection from the 2022 OCM Bocas Poetry Prize winner re-imagines Shakespeares Othello for the modern age, intertwining the identities of 'immigrant' and 'Black'.
'This indispensable collection explores Shakespeare's pernicious archetype, observing how "the Moor remains invisible, despite the obsession with his body"Yet Allen-Paisant makes the historical impasse an occasion for deep, generous interrogation of masculinity, and a linked elevation of the maternal that is at the heart of so many Caribbean and other families... Enriched by historical research, Self-Portrait As Othello celebrates representation, understanding and speech as acts of glorious resistance.' - Fiona Sampson, The Guardian;'In Jason Allen-Paisant's Self-Portrait as Othello we take a deep dive not only into the formation of a literary self but also into a compelling narrative of the body and its visual history. Brilliantly insightful and strikingly lyrical, it accrues significant emotional heft in its movements from Othello to self and back. But underlying it all is a rich seam of commentary on Othello's subtexts that makes you constantly reconsider who might be the exploiter and who might be the exploited. Exhilarating - I recommend it highly.' - Roger Robinson;'A rich and twisty linguistic collection that finely balances the inner and outer space of black embodiment... a fine, fine accomplishment.' - Raymond Antrobus;'Part I of Self-Portrait as Othello is a tour de force of language slippage in a journey from Jamaica to Paris (the allure of 'French' and Europe, focalising later in the book around Venice). In a fusing of modes of irony and almost painful recollection, Allen-Paisant lets language suggest language, just as conditions suggest conditions... His method is to know language, remake it, call it out, shift into different streams of articulation.' - John Kinsella, Poetry Society
Jason Allen-Paisant is a Jamaican writer and academic who works as a senior lecturer in Critical Theory and Creative Writing at the University of Manchester. He’s the author of two poetry collections, Thinking with Trees (Carcanet Press, 2021), winner of the 2022 OCM Bocas Prize for poetry, and Self-Portrait as Othello (Carcanet Press, 2023). His non-fiction book, Scanning the Bush, will be published by Hutchinson Heinemann in 2024. Author photo by Jonathan Turner.
| SKU | Unavailable |
| ISBN 13 | 9781800173101 |
| ISBN 10 | 1800173105 |
| Title | Self-Portrait as Othello |
| Author | Jason Allen-Paisant |
| Condition | Unavailable |
| Binding Type | Paperback |
| Publisher | Carcanet Press Ltd |
| Year published | 2023-03-30 |
| Number of pages | 80 |
| Prizes | Winner of The T.S. Eliot Prize 2023, Winner of The Forward Prize for Best Collection 2023, Winner of The Poetry Book Society Spring Choice 2023, Short-listed for The Writers' Prize 2024, Short-listed for The Jhalak Prize 2024 |
| Cover note | Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary. |
| Note | Unavailable |