An Introduction to The Poetry and Fiction of Olive Senior

Abstract

Short stories and poems by Olive Senior have been appearing in journals and anthologies in Jamaica and overseas for more than a decade. It was not however till December 1985 that the first complete volume reached the bookstands-a collection of poems, Talking of Trees, published by Calabash Press, Jamaica. A few months later (early 1986), a collection of short stories, Summer Lightning and other stories, now in its second printing, was published by Longman, U.K. This paper discusses the more common themes in Senior's prose and poetry and comments briefly on their treatment. Senior's short stories and poetry are the work of a creative talent of great sensitivity which expresses tremendous understanding of the human condition, particularly that of poor people both rural and urban. The attempt to slot her writing into a particular genre immediately gives one an uncomfortable feeling. For the work is knit together by a common landscape and a recurring concern for humanity. Both poetry and prose bring the country paths of Senior's childhood and the urban experiences of her young womanhood into focus. The themes of both concern the experiences of people in these environments who represent different points along a scale of social and financial privilege. The point of view preferred, particularly in the prose published so far, is the child's eye view, complete with all the wonder and confusion implied by the lines quoted at the beginning of this section. The stories presented here, like the stories in Summer Lightning, reflect that preference. The child's eye view is not childlike. It is a clear vision through which the irrationalities of adults, the inequities in society and from time to time the redeeming features in the environment, are expressed. The exploitation of the child's vision allows Senior space for the imaginative forays her readers find most engaging, and for the dramatic presentation of human foibles seen from the point of view of the little person looking and feeling from under. Rutherford's comment in her review of the collection Summer Lightning, is to the point: