Christine Otten (World Editions)

Anyone with strident opinions about the issue of appropriation in literature may be intrigued by this: a quasi-biographical novel about the lives of The Last Poets, black revolutionaries who formed in late 1960s New York and whose rageful, rhythm-driven performance poetry presaged rap by a decade. Otten, a white woman from the Netherlands, gleaned knowledge of her chosen subject from interviews conducted with band members and acolytes in the early 00s (The Last Poets was published in Dutch in 2004, so presumably the group have had to wait 12 years to find out how they’ve been portrayed). Thorny, hotheaded characters abound, many rising from poverty and racist oppression by their own determination; brilliant, groundbreaking performers with feet of clay, at the vanguard of culture while barely realising so.

words NOEL GARDENER

Price: £12.99. Info: www.worldeditions.org