One of the primary functions of this blog is not only to promote my books, but also to discuss ideas and to showcase the work of writers from the Caribbean and South Florida who have (as Seth Godin would say) done something remarkable.
On Monday (5/10/2010), I’ll be posting a book review of Dog-Heart by Diana McCaulay, one of the most important novels to come out of Jamaica in recent years. McCaulay’s novel confronts the issues of poverty and racism in Jamaica between the brownings (Reds) and the black underclass of Jamaica. It also extends the discourse about violence in Jamaican fiction and joins a long list of novels that emerge from the prophetic tradition of the Caribbean. For the grad students out there, these are two subjects that I am sure are ripe for a dissertation.
Then, on Monday (5/17/2010), Heather D. Russell has written a glowing review of Sections of an Orange by Anton Nimblett. It is not to be missed!
I’m hoping to post a book review each Monday until June (Caribbean-American Heritage Month) when I’ll be running a series based on the question:
Our assumptions about what makes a Caribbean classic have never really been discussed in an open forum and therefore the biases have long gone unchecked.
So far, Opal Palmer Adisa of The Caribbean Writer and Charmaine Valere of Signifyin’ Guyana have joined the discussion. I hope others will join the fray.
The next few weeks are going to exciting times in Caribbean writing with the Calabash International Literary Festival (May 28-30) in Jamaica and the Caribbean Studies Association (May 24-30) in Barbados.
Heady times, my friends. Heady times!
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2 comments:
If I could afford it I would fly out to Jamrock for Calabash in a heart beat! Incidentally, I'm on the last pages of Colin Channer's 'The Girl with the Golden Shoes.' Have you read it? It's something else. Looking forward to reading your posts about the festival!
In terms of the conversation on what constitutes a Caribbean classic, are you looking for published authors/established scholars to add their voices to the conversation or just anyone with a well-articulated opinion? I'm a graduate student and would I qualify as the latter. I would be thrilled to write on this as it interests me any way. I just finished a paper on defining the Caribbean picture book aesthetic that I am trying to get published in a journal. Sounds like many of us are thinking about these types of defining (pun intended) questions.
Take care!
Summer
Summer, I've read _The Girl with the Golden Shoes_ and liked it.
As far as the Caribbean Classic post is concerned, I'd love to hear from you and any others who would like to contribute. This is the promise of the internet and I think we should xploit it to the fullest.
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