ABSTRACT
This introduction presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book focuses on the writings of the eighteenth-century British critic of the Enlightenment, Anna Letitia Barbauld. It discusses the prolific activist-author Mary Austin, with particular attention to her novel, The Ford, which is based on actual water rights struggles in the Owens Valley area of California at the beginning of the twentieth century. The book presents a decidedly different, more militant T. S. Eliot than the emaciated character the poet himself promoted publicly. It explores the work of an American contemporary of Warner, who has become recognized as a major figure in the rise of African American literature, often labelled the Harlem Renaissance. The book provides a comparative analysis of two very different contemporary poets, Grace Nichols from the Caribbean and the Scottish poet Jackie Kay.
