Mel Cooke (left) presents a signed copy of his book 11/9 to Professor Earl McKenzie as Camille Savage looks on at the launch at Redbones on Tuesday, September 30.

On Tuesday, writer Mel Cooke launched his debut book, 11/9, at the Redbones Blues Café in St Andrew.

11/9 is a collection of poems that "engages with race, capitalism, migration, terrorism, the media and politics".

Cooke, one of the writers to emerge from the Calabash Writing Workshop, began his poetry writing as early as 1987. He addressed the capacity-size gathering with the reading of 'Word Terrorist' before also reading from 'Definition' and 'Non-Sequitir'.

Andrew Stone, guest speaker, explained that 11/9 is not written to score political points, but to build a bridge between present and future. He also described 11/9 as "brutal, powerful and honest".

11/9 is published by Blouse and Skirt Books, an imprint of Blue Moon Publishing.

-Marcia Rowe

Copies of the book '11/9' written by Mel Cooke. - Peta-Gaye Clachar photos

Taken from the Weekend Star, Friday October 3, 2008.