Derek Still
“ore legar populi” - Ovid
The pages of the sea still turn
And the leaves of the trees.
The feathers of birds still rustle in the wind.
But there is a stillness, a muting, something missed.
Where is the voice that tolled out the names in the sea,
Intoned the oracles scratched on the Sybil’s leaves,
And chronicled the cities fled or flown to?
Take up the volume; turn up the volume.
Read him to your child, your lover,
To strangers encountered,
Image: By Jorge Mejía peralta [CC BY 2.0], via Wikimedia Commons
Words: Vladimir Lucien
Image: Carl Van Vechten [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons;
Words: Olivier Stephenson
“To live with the conscious knowledge of the shadow of uncertainty, with the knowledge that disaster or tragedy could strike at any time; to be afraid and to know and acknowledge your fear, and still to live creatively and with unstinting love: that is to live with grace.”
-- Peter Abrahams, The View From Coyaba, 1985
Jeremy Poynting, Managing Editor of Peepal Tree Press writes,
“I don’t think the winning of the Forward Poetry prize by Caribbean writers for the last three years is any accident.
This is a generation for whom the fact of nationhood is history, who have distinguished elders to build on and react against, who see their writing in both a local and global setting, who are exploring all the actual diversities of being Caribbean persons in terms of race, gender and sexual orientation.
We caught up with Anthony Kellman to discuss research, King Ja Ja and the fine balance of historical fiction.
What first drew you to the story of Jubo Jubogha, King Jaja of Opobo?
We caught up with Karen Lord to discuss influences, speculative fiction and the Caribbean.
Who were your favourite authors growing up?
