David Kerr’s collection of poetry, Tangled Tongues, published in 2003, has not received much critical attention. This is not because he does not tackle critical socio-cultural and political issues relevant to their context, southern Africa, where he is based. The reason why his poetry is undervalued can partly be explained by his status as an outsider, a British expat writing about postcolonial Africa. An analysis of the poetry, however, reveals that it is a valuable achievement, both in relevance and quality. Kerr does not only engage with pressing issues in the region (like well-known local poets), but also does so in a poetic style that shows maturity and great control of his craft.

中文翻译：

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“赤裸裸的真相”：在大卫·克尔纠结的语言中诗化贫困、暴政和对自由的追求

大卫·克尔 (David Kerr) 于 2003 年出版的诗集《纠结的舌头》(Tangled Tongues) 并未受到太多批评。这并不是因为他没有解决与其背景相关的关键社会文化和政治问题，即他所在的南部非洲。他的诗歌被低估的部分原因是他作为局外人的身份，一位英国侨民，撰写了关于后殖民非洲的文章。然而，对诗歌的分析表明，无论是在相关性还是质量上，它都是一项宝贵的成就。克尔不仅处理该地区的紧迫问题（如当地著名诗人），而且以一种诗意的方式来处理，表现出成熟和对他的技艺的高度控制。