Sanctuaries of Invention

Sanctuaries of Invention (Peepal Tree Press), the sixth collection of poems by Trinidadian writer Jennifer Rahim — winner of the 2018 OCM Bocas Prize for Caribbean Literature — tackles up-to-the-moment subjects like the COVID-19 pandemic and the climate change crisis, while meditating on bigger questions of time, human nature, and how our lives are shaped by specific geographies and histories. The book also testifies to the power of language and literature to transcend the present: “Words fly the grave, steal / the only thunder a virus can claim, / and, alive, / witness to goodness that quietly thrives.”