It is unfortunate that Velma Pollard's 9 West Indian Poets (Collins, 1980), an anthology of fifty-five poems by "nine of the major figures" in West Indian poetry, should have been subtitled "An Anthology for the CXC English Examination", since such a designation tends to limit the possible wider distribution of the book. Indeed, while one can appreciate Collins' desire to capture part of the CXC market for the book by so advertising it, in a sense such a move is pointless at the moment since the CXC Board has listed 0. R. Dathorne's Caribbean Verse, Donald Wilson's New Ships and K. Ramchand and Cecil Gray's West Indian Poetry as the recommended source texts for schools. This, of course, does not mean that Mrs. Pollard's book will not eventually be included on that select list. However, as it now stands, and given the present economic constraints of our society where the price of books - like everything else -- has gone sky-high, the book is hardly likely to be purchased by schools preparing students for CXC Examinations, since they cannot afford the luxury of an additional text. At the same time, the CXC tag probably ensures that the general reader will also shy away from the book.