George Lamming
By Ricky Singh
Readers of the inspiring works of George Lamming, one of the best known authors, essayists and social commentators of the Caribbean, are in for a treat with the release of the latest publication of a collection of his thoughts by the leading publishing enterprise in the English-speaking Caribbean -- Ian Randle Publishers (IRP).
Edited by Anthony Bogues, one of a trio of well-known Jamaica-born West Indian intellectuals and thinkers, The George Lamming Reader has been released by IRP as a refreshing new series on 'Caribbean Reasonings'.
The Lamming Reader is focused on the aesthetics of decolonisation while other titles in the series include MG Smith's Social Theory and Anthropology in the Caribbean and Beyond (edited by Professor Brian Meeks). The other series editor is the historian and writer, Professor Rupert Lewis.
There will be a formal launch of The George Lamming Reader at the Errol Barrow Centre for Creative Imagination on Thursday evening to coincide with the Inaugural George Lamming Distinguished Lecture to be delivered by Professor Bogues on the theme, 'The radical imagination and the Caribbean intellectual tradition — from the Haitian revolution to the sovereignty of the imagination'.
The latter dimension of Bogues' presentation — sovereignty of the imagination — has been one of the challenging discourses associated with Lamming's frequent engagements with institutions and public fora across the Caribbean.
Dedicated to the memory of the late distinguished Caribbean citizen Rex Nettleford (a friend of Lamming), the publisher's blurb on The George Lamming Reader explains that this much-needed publication on his works examines the history of the Caribbean and the categories which "continue to shape and influence Caribbean identity in our contemporary world".
For Bogues, professor of African Studies at Brown University, USA, and director of the Caribbean Centre for Caribbean Thought at the Mona Campus of the University of the West Indies, Lamming is "a seminal Caribbean intellectual and thinker". And to write about him is to "immediately confront the entire scaffolding of 20th century Caribbean intellectual, cultural , political and literary life..."
Read more: http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/columns/Lamming-in-Caribbean-reasonings_9111237#ixzz1R40PuLcN
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