Book Review - Twelve Poems and a Story for Christmas
Published Nov 30, 2006
Book Description
The poems describe the journey of a newlywed couple, Mary and Joseph, to their ancestral homeland where they are to be registered in a census decreed by a tyrant. Mary is pregnant and Joseph knows that the child she is carrying is not his. As they travel through the harsh landscape, they are joined by strangers who have been summoned by dreams, visions, and supernatural events to bear witness to a child whose birth they are told is destined to change the course of human history.
In A Miami Christmas Story Raymond Allen, a despairing musician and family man, wrestles with his pride that is both the source of his sorrow and redemption.
Twelve Poems and a Story for Christmas explores the inner lives of characters that surround this perennial story and reveals a human dilemma: to find meaning behind the events in our lives.
Reviews:
Twelve Poems and A Story for Christmas recasts the Christmas story through the eyes of Mary, Joseph, the shepherds, the three kings, and even the inn keeper gets his word in. The author Geoffrey Philp makes these characters who seem so distant come alive in this collection. And what makes the book so accessible is that we all know these characters, so we don't have to figure out who they are. We've grown up with them.
And the story? Set in Miami, "A Story for Christmas" gives a tropical twist to one of the many meanings of Christmas: redemption. Geoffrey Philp is an amazing writer. -
Susanna from Amazon.com
Biographical Notes
Jamaican author Geoffrey Philp has published five poetry collections: Exodus and Other Poems, Hurricane center, Florida Bound, Xango music, and Twelve Poems and A Story for Christmas. He has also written a novel Benjamin My Son, a book of short stories, Uncle Obadiah and the Alien, and a play, Ogun's Last Stand. Philp has won many awards for his work which focuses on the dilemmas facing fatherless children in the Caribbean, the disruptive effects of the Jamaican diaspora on family and community life, and the spiritual political dimensions of Reggae and Rastafari. His poems and short stories have appeared in Small Axe, the Oxford Book of Caribbean Short Stories, and the Oxford Book of Caribbean Verse. He lives in Miami Florida.
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Being One: High school, the next frontier. Volume 1 : Jamaican Book Review On Wednesday, September 4th, 1996, it is the first day of high school for Timberly, Barry, Stefania, Zaurah and Latrice in New York City. All come from various backgrounds that includes the regions of the Caribbean, Italy and the North Southern region of America that would add into the melting pot of their school. Yet, who said it would be easy? Stereotypes and prejudices arise even in one's family: Zaurah as a Rastafarian can attest to this. It may not be depicted now, but this book is the beginning of a Christian series. Under God's eyes, we are all one blood. .
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