Dominic JP Nelson-Ashley’s Original Soundtrack (Ek Zuban, £10) is a warm and funny memoir of growing up in Hounslow in the 1970s, school, girls, first kisses, Bruce Lee, Ska, Soul, Funk and being Black (‘The N-Word / is the only one / in the dictionary / that means, / “Hey, I used to own you.”’)

 

The second half of the book is a hilarious account of the complexities of being a parent in the twenty-first century:

 

‘It is an African tradition / that you should hand over / your first pay-packet / to your parents… My Firstborn, Heir to my kingdom said: / I’m only a quarter African so it doesn’t apply to me. / I said: / You’re really expensive to grow. / I’ll take 25%’

 

Andy Croft (Smokestack Books / Morning Star Poetry column)