[2][5] It centres on the eponymous "archetypal" grandmother figure, Mama Dot, and was noted for its fusion of standard English and Nation language.
[8] Where D'Aguiar's first two poetry collections were set in Guyana, his third – British Subjects (1993) – explores the experiences of peoples of the West Indian diaspora in London.
[10] London was also the focus of another long poem, Sweet Thames, which was broadcast as part of the BBC "Worlds on Film" series on 3 July 1992 and won the Commission for Racial Equality Race in the Media Award.
[11] After turning to writing novels for a period of time, D'Aguiar returned to the poetic mode in 1998, publishing Bill of Rights (1998): a long narrative poem centred on the Jonestown massacre in Guyana (1979) told in several Guyanese versions of English, fusing patois, Creole and Nation Language with standard vernacular.
Returning to themes he had earlier developed in British Subjects, D'Aguiar in his 1996 novel, Dear Future, explores the history of the West Indian diaspora through a fictional account of the lives of one extended family.
[15][21] His 2014 novel Children of Paradise is a fictional reimagining of the Jonestown massacre, told from the perspective of a mother and child living at the commune.