Communion

Winner of the Poetry Book Society (PBS) Pamphlet Choice for Summer/Autumn 2006, Jacob Sam-La Rose's debut chapbook displays the maturity of a poet who has honed his art through the time-honoured method of reading, writing, sharing, critiquing and rewriting. His poems exhibit a sense of awe and comfort at once, drawing the reader into a circle where even the familiar becomes new again. Critics have commented on his 'brave and often audacious willingness to experiment with form allows the reader to explore an impressive variety of subtle relationships'. What underlines Jacob's achievement is the fact that he achieves all this is a small volume of 17 poems and an ethereal 5-poem suite - his tribute to his childhood pastime - basketball. Jacob Sam-La Rose is a poet and educator of Guyanese parentage. A former Poet-in-Residence at BBC London, he is a touring writer with the British Council, with appearances at international venues including Kiasma - the Museum of Contemporary Art (Finland), Mylos Theatre (Greece) and the Center of Contemporary Art in Glasgow.
Jacob has performed at a broad range of literature and arts festivals, including The URB festival (Helsinki), The Word: London Festival of Literature 2001 (the Underglobe, London), the Bay Lit festival (Cardiff), the Portobello Festival and the Bath Literature Festival.