The Essays in this book are meant to address a general audience although most of them offer readings which should be of interest to specialists. Mervyn Morris, himself a writer and critic, deliberately sets out to question the attitudes and judgments of professional their critics, "I am often defending writers against critics, especially when I believe that inappropriate criteria have been involved," say Morris in his Preface to the collection. The first nine essays are concerned with the interplay between oral and scribal modes, performance and print, Standard English and Creole. Some of the later essays continue to highlight fusion, cultural interchange and creative traffic across borders.